Discovered
by JD Lance
Summary: The Titan trio has been discovered by two teenagers who attend Sherman Highschool (OCs). With hopes of wealth and fame, the teens try to uncover the secrets of Titan by getting closer to the Lunis family. DISCLAIMER:I DO NOT OWN SYM-BIONIC TITAN, i do own the OC's in this story, and the idea for this.
1. Chapter 1

**So, my usual stories are either multi chapters with a realitively thought out story line, or oneshots. this story is mainly going to consist of OC's and the originals from the show, but i'm really going to try to incorperate my own. this story really doesn't have a specific plan on where it's going, so i don't know how long it'll be. this will be more of a series than a story, but it'll all be posted here, enjoy :)**

"Lance, Ilana, the rift gate has opened." Octus reported in his dad disguise, Ilana shut her book and Lance set down his guitar, and the trio loaded into the family minivan to form Titan somewhere they wouldn't be seen.

After driving to the outskirts of town in the rural farm land, the Galalunians activated their armors and initiated their sym-bionic link. "Octus, scan the area for the creature." Lance ordered.

"I… don't think that will be necessary…" Ilana said slowly, Titan turned around to see a huge, grey monster with three long arms that had nasty spikes at the end.

"Initiate _Sym-_bionic_ sword!_" Lance ordered, a giant leaf bladed sword formed in the robot's hands, and then it ran forward. The creature also charged, it's four red eyes glowing. Titan swung forward, the creature ducked and slashed one of its three claws at the robot's armor.

"Move!" Lance shouted, Titan sidestepped, barely avoiding the attack.

"Octus, arm cannons!" Ilana said, ready to use the new feature the robot had been given after Octus' repair with G3. Titan raised its palm, and a massive surge of yellow light beamed out, the creature dove to the side leaving a crater in the ground where it was before. With a shriek, it ran forward for another attack.

"Shoot it down!" Lance ordered, the robot fired another blast with its free hand, the Mutraddi beast jumped over the wave this time. "Form Sym-bionic shield!"

Titan's sword disappeared, and a round shield took its place, wielding the shield with both hands, Titan slammed the face of the shield into the creature as it landed. Stunned, the beast stumbled backwards. "Lance, initiate sym-bionic sword."

In one hand, the original blade formed and Titan stabbed downward into the creature's neck. After a momentary jerk, the monster was dead. Their weapon's dematerialized, and Titan's link was broken. Lance and Ilana disengaged their Manus and Corus armor, and Octus turned on his Newton hologram. The teens walked off to find where they had parked, satisfied with their work at defeating yet another Mutraddi beast.

Little did they know, they were being watched.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the heck just happened?" A teenaged boy with short blonde hair asked.

"I have no idea…" A girl with long brown hair asked, her sea green eyes filled with fear.

"I've never seen Titan so close before… he's huge!" The boy exclaimed.

"I know, hey… it's coming closer… get down!" The duo, both teenagers ducked to the ground in the rows of wheat crop. They watched Titan stab its sword into the creature it had been fighting, and then suddenly, all of the weapons from the battle disappeared. Then, so did Titan. "Did you see that? Titan just… disappeared into thin air!"

"Wait… it's those three robots from the news…" The boy said, pointing to a yellow and blue robot, next to them was a large man.

"Hannah… give me your camera…" The boy said. The brown haired girl, Hannah, passed the boy her camera, a long lensed, professional still camera. The boy adjusted the zoom and aimed it at the robots. "That… that guy, right there… he goes to our school…"

"Who is it?" Asked Hannah, motioning for the boy to hand over the camera for her to have a look.

"I don't know… that fat kid that always takes bathroom breaks…" The boy handed Hannah the camera. She looked into the lens and examined the scene.

"Where did those robots go?" She asked, puzzled. The spot where the two giant robots had been standing was empty.

"I don't know… let's get closer, I wanna picture…" The boy said.

"What? You're insane!" Hannah protested.

"Fine, stay here then, gimme your camera though."

"Eric, my dad will kill me if you drop that!" She said.

"A photo of the people behind Titan will be worth more than enough to get you another, better camera. Now come one!" Eric ran off, with a groan, the girl followed.

"There, I see the dude…" Eric aimed the camera and snapped a picture.

"That won't mean anything without proof it's them…." Hannah said taking the camera, she moved it around the field and scanned for more photo opportunities. "I see a girl…" The camera snapped and took another picture.

"So, two people, two robots right… but the news said there were three…" Eric said pulling out his cell phone. "Imma look around, you try and follow them while I look for the third person."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Of course it is, it's me… have my ideas ever not been good?" Eric scoffed.

"Um… always, our first date was at an abandoned amusement park, and I fell through cracked floor boards three times…"

"Yeah, but that was a pretty stellar time…"

"I sprained my ankle…"

"Whatever, you got better, now come on… they're leaving…" The boy ran crouched through the field, Hannah groaned and followed the two people. They walked on for a while until they approached a tan minivan.

"Titan drives a Loser cruiser… good to know." She mumbled to herself, taking another picture of the two loading and then a shot of the van's license plate, she waited, hidden in the crops. "Where could the third robot be?"

Just as if on time, she felt a hard hand on her shoulder, then another one over her mouth to suppress her otherwise, very loud scream. In an instant, she found herself pinned on the ground, front side down. "You have two seconds to explain who you are why you're here, and why you find yourself entitled to take pictures of this vehicle."

She recognized the voice, but she was too full of fear to identify it, and she didn't dare try to turn around and see. "Hannah Granger, I'm here with my boyfriend, we're taking pictures of the city from out here…" She said, voice noticeably shaking.

"And you're following us, why?" The man asked sternly.

"I… my boyfriend, Eric and I… we saw the Titan thing here, and you guys looked like you were behind it or something… which, I'm sure you're not… I'm so sorry!" The man loosened his grip and let her up. "Lance Lunis?"

The dark haired, extremely fit, teenage dream stood in front of her. He was every girl's dream… and he was in front of her, and possibly a contributor to Titan. "Give me your camera."

"No, please don't take it; it was a present from my dad…" She whimpered, clutching the machine. Lance's eyes seemed to soften at that remark.

"I only want to see it… just to erase the pictures, which you have no use for." He extended his hands. After a moment's consideration, Hannah handed over the camera. "It's from your dad?" he said casually, looking through the pictures.

"Yeah… he's in the marines; it was his last present to me before he got shipped overseas…" She said, rubbing her arm awkwardly, the other two people came over.

"Lance, what's going on?" The girl asked, _Ilana Lunis from school. _Hannah identified.

"This girl, Hannah… was taking some pictures of us, she thought we were behind Titan." Lance said calmly.

"But we-"The larger guy said.

"That's weird, why?" Ilana said, kicking his foot.

"I… saw Titan here, and… he just disappeared, and you guys were right there… so…." Hannah said, the group said nothing. Lance handed back the camera, the girl wrapped the strap around her neck and stood. "So… um, sorry… about that…"

"That's fine; just don't let it happen again…" Lance said walking away.

"Say, we're in Trig together, right?" Ilana asked.

"Yeah… and P.E." Hannah said shyly.

"Okay, I'll see you at school then, sorry for the mix up."

"Okay, bye…" The brown haired girl walked off to find Eric. After searching the fields for roughly five minutes or so, the blonde boy came running up from behind.

"Hannah! Hannah! You won't guess what I just found out!" He said running towards her, she turned around, he crammed the phone into her hands. "Press play!" She found the triangle symbol and pressed it.

_Say, we're in Trig together, right?_

_Yeah… and P.E._

_Okay, I'll see you at school ten, sorry for the mix up._

_Okay, bye…_

_Ilana, come here._

_Yeah, Lance?_

_Is she gone?_

_Yes_

_Good, that was too close… from now on we need to be more careful of where we disengage our link… if she actually had gotten pictures of us…_

_I know… Octus, can we find some place to form and disengage Titan in private?_

_Yes, I can start searching for suitable areas in the forests outside of town, of course it will be a longer drive back afterwards._

_That's worth the risk, if Steel were to learn our identities… _

_Agreed…_

The recording stopped, Hannah looked up at Eric, who was panting from the sprint over. "We… found Titan!" Eric jumped up. "We're gunna be filthy rich!"

"Cool your jets, that's not worth anything…"

"No, but now that we know who they are, and that they go to our school, we just have to catch em' in the act again…"

"I don't know… they said not to follow them anymore…"

"Hannah, what's more important, a cool million bucks, or a few broken bones?"

"Depends whose bones, I guess…"

"Yeah, a million bucks!" Eric said, "they said not to follow them, but you'll be around them at school, you just need to be around them when they form Titan! They can't make you stop going to school!"

"So, then it'd be my bones?"

"Hon, you're overlooking things, it's not like we're going to be stalking them, just watching them from a distance and waiting until they form Titan."

"So stalking?"

"Who wants a cool mill?"

"That wasn't…"

"It might even be more than a million dollars, Hannah, don't be selfish, you gotta take one for America and follow them, right? Think of the good we can do, unmasking Titan!"

"I guess you're right…"

"Of course I am." The blonde haired boy grabbed the camera from her arms, stood beside her, and took a picture of them both.

"This day will be remembered for when we start our epic quest to become history! _Sherman Times: Master minds behind Titan revealed by extremely handsome young man!_"

"_And his beautiful, loving girlfriend?_" Hannah asked playfully.

"More or less…" The girl shot him a look.

"What? I'm only joking; get a sense of humor, babe…" Eric tossed the camera into her hands and walked off.

**Eric is a very self confident, pushy guy who assumes everyone's already on his side. Hannah is a passive, agreeing person not really willing to stand up for herself, eager to please... that kind of vibe...**


	3. Chapter 3

"What was the state of California known for in 1849?" Ilana asked, holding a pile of neatly stacked papers.

"Um… that was…" Lance said slowly, slouching in his chair in the kitchen.

"Yes…" Ilana said patiently.

"Gold rush… settlers from the east would move westward for the naturally found gold…"

"Good, and the miners for the gold were called?"

"Forty-niners." Lance said proudly.

"Great, Lance."

"And that's also like a tennis team or something, right? Fourty niners?"

"I don't know… you can ask Octus, I'm sure he could look it up." Ilana said, getting out of her chair to talk to the robot.

"No, I don't actually care." Lance said simply, he gathered the papers and stacked them in a messy pile. "Thanks for helping me study, Ilana…"

"No problem, Lance." She restacked the papers in a neat, and tidy order, and handed them to Lance.

"Thanks." He said, cramming them into his backpack. Ilana watched sadly, as her beautiful, organized pile of papers were folded, crumpled, and knocked out of order within the old, military styled bag.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Ilana asked.

"I don't know…" Lance slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Wait, Lance…" Ilana followed him to his room. "Why don't we play a board game or something?"

"I'd rather not…"

"Why don't we watch TV, then?"

"The war specials on the _History Channel _ended last week." Lance opened his door and walked inside.

"Well, we could go for a walk."

"I just ran twenty miles for my workout routine…"

"We could go see a movie…"

"Too many people."

"How about we go to the promenade and see some of the bands play live?"

"No, _Disenfranchised_ has a gig there, and the last thing I'd want to do is pay money to see the guys I used to perform with…"  
"Well, what do you want to do?" Ilana asked, standing in the doorway so he couldn't close it.

"Nothing, just… have some alone time I guess, I'll see you in the morning…" Lance said reaching for the door.

"What are you going to do?"  
"Video games." He pointed to the TV mounted to the wall and the console on the bookshelf underneath.

"Oh, what kinds?"

"Modern combat… World at battle… Warfield three… Grey Ops." Lance said, listing the titles on the top of his head. "You can play if you want..."

"Sure, I think it will be a good opportunity for us to bond during our time on this planet." She smiled and sat down next to him on the large, reclining chair that he had _borrowed _from the living room.

"Um… which one do you want to play…" Lance asked, opening a cardboard box with several disc boxes inside.

"Oh, whichever one you like best…"

"Great, we'll play Call to Action IV…" Lance said putting it in and rambling on and on about how it had real events of Earth's history and how they had such fascinating warfare because it was so primitive. _Oh, the things I do for company… _Ilana thought to herself as Lance explained the controls of the game, not showing it, but obviously thrilled to have someone to play video games with.

. . .

"So, you and Ilana Lunis both have Trig and P.E. together, second and fourth period… fourth period being before lunch, you two can walk out together… and you can be around the other Titan's…" Eric explained, pacing the room. "Once you get to know the others, Newton and Lance Lunis… you can be around them when another alien creature attacks, which usually triggers Titan to show up… and I'll be waiting with the camera and catch everything!"

"I thought that we weren't following them anymore…" Hannah said quietly.

"Babe… what's wrong with being an average, friendly school goer? You'll only be sitting at their table and listening on everything they do and say, it's not like you're going up to their house and planting cameras…"

"But… wouldn't I be doing the same thing?"

"No, no… no… not at all…" Eric said soft and comfortably. "They don't live at school… no one does… you won't be watching them at their home… silly girl, see? This is why I'm in charge." He explained. Hannah groaned at his statement.

"I don't know about this…"

"Just trust me, okay? I got you babe, if anything happens, I'll jump in and kick some robot ass!" Eric said, imitating a martial arts kick and cooing like they did in the movies. "All of the data we gather, we'll bring right here… and post on this wall." He took a paper tack, and pinned up the picture of the two at the corn field. "This, is the new _base of operations_…"

"Why my house?" Hannah asked, examining the tack, and the hole it would leave after it was gone.

"Because, you don't have any parents watching over you like hawks… duh, my house… mom and dad, full twenty four seven… here, no stinkin' adults!"

"I wish it weren't that way…"

"What? Why?"

"Eric, I live alone in my dad's apartment while he's over in terrorist land getting shot at!"

"Well, talk to him about it, he should know better than to leave little girls all alone."  
"He has a contract by law, that he has to serve for a certain amount of time…"

"Why'd he sign up, then? If he was gunna leave you alone?"

"It wasn't a problem when my mom was around… after she died, I had no one at home, and he has to go overseas… that's not his choice…" Hannah looked down at her bare feet for a moment, waiting for long awaited sympathy.

"Well… jeez babe, I didn't know… you never talk about these things. Hey, I know, how 'bout I stay with you, keep my girl safe, you know?" Eric said, in a sing song voice.

"I can take care of myself, Eric."  
"Then why are you complaining?" He asked puzzled.

"I'm not…"

"Uhg… I will never understand women…" Eric grunted under his breath.

. . .

"That's horrible! How is this game?" Ilana asked, horrified, as her character on screen was shot by a sniper on a nearby roof and then blown to pieces by a hand grenade.

"It's realistic…" Lance said, concentrating on the screen.

"But… my guy just got blown up!"

"It happens… I've seen that back on Galaluna, it's a lot less pretty when parts of the grenade and the person start flying at you." Lance pressed a button on his controller. "Gottcha…"

"This… is a video game though…"

"What were you expecting?" The soldier didn't look up from his game.

"I don't know… something less… _morbid_…"

"There's nothing morbid about dying in battle for what you believe in…" obviously a touchy subject for Lance.

"I know… but… that…" Ilana moved her soldier around a brick wall; out of nowhere a man popped from behind and stabbed him with a knife. "Ah!" Ilana jumped and set down the controller. "Do you have anything more… peaceful…"

"Um… I can turn the difficulty to _basic, _the enemy rate will go down."  
"No, no fighting games…"

"I have Extreme Street Racing…" Lance pulled out a car game. _Cars… cars and no guns, that seems good. _Ilana thought, she didn't like war, thinking about it made her uneasy. Her entire home planet was at war, her father was battling the mindless Mutraddi with her people. In the short time during the attack before she, Lance and Octus had fled, the amount of damage and death was extremely high. She didn't want to think about what it must have risen to by now.

Lance had inserted the disc, and started playing the co-op mode; Ilana chose a pink car with yellow flowers. Lance went with a sleek, black car with red flames on the sides. The two screens showed their cars from a third person view from behind, "Start your engines… ready, set, go!" A girl, not wearing much of any clothes announced. Immediately, Lance's car zoomed off along with the automatic computer racer, Ilana stayed behind and tried to figure out how to start the car.

"I think my car's out of gas or something…" She complained.

"That doesn't happen." Lance said, speeding past his competition. "Press the left trigger and hold B, then steer with the left joystick…"

Ilana did as she was instructed and her car started forward. She drove carefully, staying on the proper side of the road, and stopping at the stop signs and red lights. _This is pretty fun… _she though, as she turned around the corner at a moderate speed, fast enough to not stop traffic, but slow enough to be careful and not crash or bump into anything.

"Player one has lapped Player two! Three minutes remain!" The game announced as Lance's car zoomed past Ilana's.

"What just happened?" She asked.

"I just lapped you…" Lance said. Ilana carefully made her way down the intersection when a huge group of racers whizzed by. One car knocked hers from behind and sent it in a full spin, and knocked it into a traffic light.

"Whoa… that guy just hit me!" Ilana exclaimed.

"Yeah, that happens…" Lance set down his controller.

"Play one has finished the race in first place. Player two is currently in twelfth place."  
"Twelfth place, is that good?" Ilana asked.

"Not really…" Lance said slowly, he had a small smirk written on his face though. After five minutes, Ilana had crossed the finish line, making sure to follow a reasonable speed, and staying on the right side of the road and such.  
"Yay! I finished! That was fun Lance, I think I'm going to go to bed now, see you tomorrow."  
"Okay, night." Lance said casually.

"Night, Lance." She said, closing the door behind her as she left his room. She smiled as she heard the sounds of Call to Action IV playing from inside his room, she didn't approve of the game's violence, but she liked it if it made Lance happy.


	4. Chapter 4

"Uhg… I can't believe school's starting again…" Hannah moped, trudging in her dark brown combat boots, black cargo pants, and her dad's army green, vintage field jacket.

"What, didn't enjoy your weekend, hon?" Eric laughed, wearing an attire consisting of a bright yellow tee shirt and grey skating shorts.

"No, I just miss sleeping in…" The girl tilted her head to the side, so that her long brown hair flowed down, she put her hands underneath her ear like a pillow.

"Yeah, well sleep in first period. Today, we start working on exposing Titan." Eric said. the couple walked down the hallways until the morning bell rang. "Alright, I'll see you at passing period… ask Ilana if you can eat lunch with her."

"Okay." Hannah said slowly, not fully comfortable with the situation, having the school's badest and strongest guy pinning you to the ground wasn't an event easily forgotten.

. . .

"…so, if we take Y and put it under X, then our axis is…" Ms. Logan, Ilana's second period math teacher instructed the class. Half of the class was either asleep or talking, the other half was leisurely jotting down the words that come out of the teacher's mouth, but not fully paying attention. _How could they be so disrespectful? _Given such a fine opportunity to learn, considering the education system was free since it was funded by tax money, Ilana didn't understand my they would just throw away the chance to learn.

One girl was paying attention very attentively, _Anna was it? _The girl with the long brown hair and sea green eyes was in the back, three chairs back and two to the right. She was jotting down the notes into her paper and watching Ms. Logan with a very upright posture, just like Ilana.

"Alright, class. Don't forget to finish your assignment, and we have a quiz in two weeks so study. The bell with ring shortly, you may pack up your things…" Ms. Logan said in a bland, monotone voice, and moving to sit down at her desk to enjoy the short break between classes. Ilana neatly organized her notebook, papers, and pencil, then placed them in her pink backpack. The bell rang and the students rushed out of the room like a wild pack of animals.

Ilana calmly stood up and went to the teacher's desk, "Thank you, Ms. Logan…" She said politely.

"Why, you're very welcome…" The teacher said, she was middle aged, and had slightly greying black hair. She smiled at the girl, appreciating the comment.

"Thank you…" Another voice said, Hannah walked by the teacher's desk, who smiled at the other appreciative student. The two girls walked out of the room. "Say, Ilana… do you, happen to know how to do section six?"

"Why, yes… do you need help?" Ilana asked the girl, opening the door for her.

"Yeah, I really don't understand it…"  
"Well, I'd be happy to help you at lunch or after school, if you'd like." The blonde said helpfully.

"Would you? Thanks so much, you're a life saver, can we meet at lunch?" Hannah asked.

"Sure, I usually sit at the table right in the middle of the cafeteria, right by the support beam, third table from the serving counters."

"Okay, I'll meet you there with a number two pencil." The girls exchanged smiles and walked their separate ways.

. . .

Math was the one thing Hannah Granger did _not_ want to do after running four laps around the track. But Eric said that I'd all be worth it when they were millionaires, and she had to admit, it would be nice to have that kind of cash. But what if the Lunis' weren't behind Titan, and they had just been there by chance like Eric and her were.

"Hi, Ilana?" The girl asked shyly, Lance looked up from his cheeseburger and shot her a menacing, cold stare that almost made the teen want to get on her knees and beg for mercy. But she restrained after he went back to his food, confirming she was no threat.

"Hi, Hannah. Guys, this is Hannah, I'm going to help her with math during lunch." Ilana said, signaling her to take a seat.

"Meat likes math." Meat, or Edwin Kaminski said, Lance groaned as the dimwitted jock started rambling about how good he was at addition. He was only allowed to eat at the table because he was good friends with Newton.

"That's great, Meat…" Kimmy, Newton's girlfriend said while brushing her long orange hair. Hannah sat awkwardly at the table while Meat argued with Kimmy, a cheerleader about how smart he was at math.

"Okay… well, do you want to get started?" Ilana asked.

"Um, sure…" The girl unpacked her notebook and placed it on the table.

"Okay… so let's start by finding our variables so we can…" Ilana said, taking a pencil and demonstrating the equation.

. . .

"Did you meet them at lunch?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, and I'm coming over to their house tonight." Hannah said, walking beside her boyfriend.

"Wow, gutsy move by Granger…" Mused the blonde.

"No, Ilana invited me over, I didn't want to be rude, so I accepted…"

"Oh, well still, that's great… right behind enemy lines…"

"I'm just going over for dinner; I doubt I'll see anything out of the ordinary…"

"Well, who knows, maybe they keep giant robots in their garage." Hannah laughed, but quickly stopped after noticing that it was a legitimate statement .

. . .

"Hi, Hannah… Ilana's upstairs. It's the door that's not locked. Don't go in the garage, don't go in the basement, don't touch the guitars, knock before using the bathroom, don't go in my dad's office." Lance said in a bleak, monotone voice at the door. Hannah took a moment to process his commands.

"Um, you got it…" She said softly.

"Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"If a lady knocks on the door, short, light brown hair, huge lips…"

"Yeah?"

"Do not let her in, no matter what she tells you." Lance walked away.

"Okay?" Hannah said standing at the door, after Lance left the room she decided to venture inside. Going upstairs, she knocked on the first door, and after there was no response, she turned the doorknob. _Locked. _"This is so weird…" Hannah mumbled under her breath, and knocked on the next door.

"Come in." A soft and sweet voice said. _Finally. _Hannah opened the door, the blond girl was sitting at her desk with the doors to her balcony open. She walked over and greeted her."Thanks so much for coming!"

"Um, no problem… thanks for having me."

"Yeah, living in a family with all boys… it'll be nice to have another girl here with me." Ilana sat down on her bed. Hannah pulled up a chair from her desk.

"So, um… what do you want to do until dinner?"

"Well, if you want any help with your math…"  
"No thanks…"

"Got it."

"What do you usually do here?" Hannah asked, looking out of the balcony.

"Well, usually just sit on the balcony out there, or… well I paint a little, but I'm not very good."  
"Really? My dad loves painting, can I see?"

"Yeah, sure." Ilana opened her closet to reveal a trunk of rolled up paintings, and several canvases leaning against the wall.

"I painted this one last year, it's just some stuff I thought looked kind of neat…" She held up a light blue painting with various shapes of white, orange, black, and pink.

"That's rad…" Hannah marveled, observing the painting.

"Thanks, I painted it after Lance, Newton, and I went to this art exhibit… you should see Lance's…"

"Is it really good?" Hannah asked.

"It's… expressive…" She pulled out a photograph of the painting from her desk. It was a giant canvas with black and red streaks that were from the paint cans being thrown.

"Wow, that's… nice." She brushed back her brown hair.

"So, you said your dad likes painting?"

"Yeah, well… he likes observing art…"

"Oh, that's cool…"  
"No, it's not…" She said with a laugh to show she meant well.

"What does he do for a living?"

"Right now he's in the marines, overseas…" Ilana noticed the girl's combat jacket and boots.

"Oh, that must be rough…"  
"Yeah, he's never home anymore..." The door opened, Lance was standing in the entrance.

"Dinner's ready…" He said simply, and walking back down stairs.

"Okay, better go down before it gets cold…" Hannah said, standing up from her chair.

. . .

After a good serving of Newton's meatloaf and beans, the cook departed to upstairs, and Hannah helped Lance and Ilana do dishes. "So, um… where's your guys' dad?" Noticing there were not parents around at all, just like her.

"Work." Lance said, passing Ilana a dish.

"Oh, what's his job?"

"He's a technician." Ilana said, handing Hannah the disk after scrubbing it, she dried it off and set it on a rack.

"That's cool, your mom?"

"She… um, died…" Ilana replied.

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"It's alright…"

"My mom passed a while ago too…" Hannah said, drying another dish.

"That's rough…" Ilana comforted. "What do you do when you're dad's away?"

"I just… live in the apartment by myself, I mean… my only relative is my uncle, and he lives in Canada…"

"Where's your dad?" Lance asked.

"Somewhere in the middle east, he's a marine."

"Oh, what's he ranked?" Lance asked curiously.

"Um, he's a corporal or something…"

"Mm-hmm…" Lance said, giving Ilana a glance, and then returning to his dishes. "How's staying alone?"

"It's alright, I guess. It's tough but, he'll be home soon, so I'll be fine…" Ilana put her hand on Hannah's shoulder.


	5. Chapter 5

A month had passed; Hannah had been having lunch at the Lunis table every day, even though they weren't discussing math. "Nah, I don't like that mainstream stuff… music doesn't matter how many people listen to it…" Hannah said, taking out the ear buds that Kimmy's friend, Tiffany had given her.

"Same with Lance." Ilana said, signaling to her brother, who was attending to his food.

"Really? Indie artists, or just small bands in general?" Hannah asked curiously.

"Small bands, like the one I was in… that's where the music's raw…" He said, not looking up from his dish.

"That's cool." Hannah said as the bell rang. "Well, I gotta get to class before Mr. Fitzgerald kills me…"

The girl walked down the halls. "Babe…"

"Eric, hey, I have to get to Fitzgerald…"

"What the heck was that?" Eric said, clearly annoyed with something.

"What?"

"Hanging out with those… Titan people… this is the fifth time you've blown my off, Babe…"

"I haven't ever _blown you off… _you don't ever even ask…"

"Well, you should just know…"

"Tomorrow you're more than welcome to eat at the table…"

"No, I don't want any part with those Titan people…"

"So… it's okay to send your girlfriend to confront the big, bad, scary people, but you're too great and important to do it?"

"No, it's…"

"And quite frankly, I don't think they're behind Titan at all, they're too nice to be a giant robot."

"Nice? They…"

"Well, they're nicer than you!" Hannah exploded. She leaned against a locker and stared at Eric with her best _pouty_ face.

"Babe…"

"Just… stop, Eric… you don't even know them…"

"I'm, uh… sorry…" He said.

"Okay… just… I need to get to class, I'll see you after school…"

. . .

Hannah was having trouble focusing on science after her fight with Eric, she didn't want him to be mad at her, but she felt she needed to stand up for her new friends at the Lunis table. They couldn't be Titan, they just couldn't… they may have been rather… strange, but they weren't menacing, or none the less did they have the means to have a giant robot.

While jotting down some notes from the board, a man in a grey suit entered the classroom: _The Principal._ Or as Lance referred to him, _The Warden_. She smiled, the dark and grey bad boy everyone knew secretly had a personality. The principal talked to Mr. Fitzgerald for a moment, then her teacher turned to the class.

"Hannah, come here please…" Mr. Fitzgerald said softly.

"Yes." She asked, nervous that she'd somehow gotten into trouble. "Am I in trouble?" She asked quietly.

"No, no my dear… I have some news…" The principal said gently. Anxiety flooded over Hannah's body.

"Is it about my dad?" The principal only nodded. "Is he coming home?" Hannah asked, exited now. She looked at the girl sadly, and motioned for her to step out of the classroom.

. . .

Lance was in the kitchen, the hungry teenager searched the kitchen for eatable food substances. After a long, boring day at school, he planned to sit back, eat, and play his guitar. Being a Galalunian Corporal in the royal military, the mundane school life he'd grown accustomed to was so tiring, not physically but mentally…

As he sat down at the table with a ham and cheese sandwich he'd prepared, he heard a knock at the door. "Uhg… Barb, we do NOT have a new pet!" He shouted, walking to the door. Expecting to find the annoying, middle aged woman he was surprised to find something different. A teary eyed girl with long, brown hair and sea green eyes stared up at him. "Uh… Hannah, hi…" He said awkwardly.

"Is Ilana home?" She asked softly.

"No, she's at soccer practice… um, come in…" He said awkwardly, mentally trying to remember if _General Tarax's Survival Guide _had a section on crying teenage girls… sadly, no such luck.

"What's up?" He asked, sitting the girl down on the couch. She stared at him for a moment, obviously holding back tears. Then, she cracked, bawling out a stream of sobs. Lance cautiously sat down next to her and patted her back.

"I… got called out of class today… it was about my dad…" She choked out. "They told me… he died this morning in a firefight…"

Lance sat, speechless. He'd lost his own father, who had gone missing back on Galaluna, and he'd lost many friends to the various wars he'd gone through. But she couldn't know of his past. "I'm… so sorry…" He said, sympathetically. Hannah, sobbed a bit more.

"Without my dad, I won't be able to pay rent for his apartment… I looked at the files, and payment's due in a month…" She said, curling up against a couch pillow.

"Hey… that's…. really…" He leaned in closer, and held the girl. He hardly knew her, and he was comforting her. He didn't really know what else to do. "Just let it out…" He said softly.

"I'll call Ilana; she can miss soccer practice…" Lance went to get the home phone, a few minutes later, he came back.

"Hey Lance…" Hannah asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…" She said shyly.

"No problem…"  
"Lance…"

"Yeah?"

"Is that a ham and cheese sandwich?"

"Yeah, uh… want a bite?"

"Yes please…"

. . .

"Hannah…" Ilana asked as she entered the house, her friend was sitting next to Lance on the sofa, a fresh coat of tears streaming down her face. "Lance told me what happened… I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be, it's not your fault…" She said softly.

"I'll let you two be alone…" Said Lance, sympathetically looking at Hannah, he felt bad for her, since he'd been through what she was experiencing, but he was half happy to be freed. He mentally scolded himself for the thought.

"So… how do you feel?" Ilana asked, sitting down next to her.

"Terrible…" Hannah curled up her legs and placed her forehead in between her knees.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really…"

"Okay…" Ilana said. She wrapped her arms around the girl and sat still for near a half an hour.

"I can't believe he's gone…" Hannah said, finally breaking the silence.

"I know how you feel…"

"Your mom?"

"And my dad…" Ilana said without thinking, it just escaped. Thinking of her father, who she left behind when they fled Galaluna.

"But… I thought your dad was alive, Mr. Lunis…" Ilana thought about Octus, who was posing as their father as well as Newton.

"That's… my adoption dad… Lance and I are adopted, Mr. Lunis takes in orphaned children…" She waited for Hannah to process the information.

"Why didn't you tell me, you two are… I'm sorry…"

"It's fine… we'll get by…" Ilana said, desperately trying not to get teary herself.

"So, he's your foster dad?"

"Exactly."

"That's cool…" Hannah raised her head; her beautiful brown hair was ragged and tangled. Her deep, green eyes shiny from tears. "… now that my dad's gone, I won't have anywhere to stay… I can't pay rent…"

"Lance told me…" Ilana said softly. "Where are you going to stay?"

"I'll probably have to move to Canada with my uncle, or try and find a cheaper apartment… I don't see how I can keep going to school and pay for food and a house… I'll have to drop out…"

"No…"  
"I don't know what else to do…"

"You can stay with us." Ilana said..

"What? Really?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, dad takes in kids all the time…" She lied. "We have a spare room, you can stay here, it's a roof over your head, and food…and you can keep going to school." The Lunis home didn't have a spare room, but Octus had two separate rooms for his two identities, Dad and Newton. So they could easily clear out one of the rooms.

"Well, I mean… that'd be great… thanks, Ilana… " Hannah said, hugging her friend. Who, she'd only met a month ago, but felt close to already. How could Ilana be behind Titan, would the Titan's welcome someone into their home like that? No, only a true friend would do that.

. . .

"You told her what?" Lance exclaimed, as Ilana sat quietly in her desk chair as the corporal towered above her.

"I told her she could… live here…" Ilana said.

"Why would you do that? How will we form Titan?" Lance said, trying his best not to completely shout.

"I just… couldn't bear to watch her… alone, after losing her dad… she doesn't deserve to be forced off into the world to fend for herself."

"I know, but you're going to have to tell her the deal's off, we can't have another person here!"

"Lance, I can't even imagine what she's been through, have some sympathy for her, she's been through more than we could understand…"  
"… don't say, that I don't understand…" Lance said softly. "You don't know me…"

"I know you, Lance…" Ilana said gently.

"No, you don't… I understand her situation more than anyone would know, and I wish I didn't…" Lance said. Ilana knew to a limited extent about what had happened to Lance. His father died when he was young, and Lance was sent off to military academy, which he joined the royal military afterwards.

"Lance, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be, it's not your fault…" Lance said, realizing he was quoting Hannah. He stared at the wall for a moment. "She can stay." Lance walked out of the room without another word.

**To be continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

"So, this will be your room…" Ilana said, helping Hannah with her bags.

"Whoa, totally rad… it's huge…" The girl marveled, Ilana smiled as she set down two of her bags and sat down on the floor. "I grew up in a few apartment buildings, so the rooms weren't very big…" She explained, lying down on the hardwood floor.

"So the movers will be here in a few hours with your bed and smaller furniture." Lance said, walking in the room. "Uh, she okay?" Lance asked awkwardly, seeing the girl on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She stood to her feet. "Thank you, guys… so much."

"You're absolutely welcome." Ilana said.

"Yeah, well I'm going to the park, I'll be back later… sometime." Lance went to leave the room.

"Who you going with?" Ilana asked.

"Kristin…"

"Ooh, who's Kristin?" Hannah asked.

"His _girly_ friend…" Ilana said playfully.

"We're just friends… she's helping me with a project…"

"Yeah, project… right…" Hannah chirped.

"Uhg… whatever, I'll be back later…" Lance left the room.

. . .

Kristin sat in her room, with its black walls, black furniture, dark posters, and surprisingly white carpet. She worked in front of her mirror, putting on her eyeliner and brushing her long, black hair. Preparing for her date with Lance Lunis, the school's toughest, dreamiest guy which she asked him out on, well… asked his brother, Newton if he was free… and had Lance signed up involuntarily, but the fact that he didn't run off like he always did whenever she tried to talk to him showed something.

"Kristin, there's someone at the door for you." Her mother called.

"Coming, mom!" She said loudly, but in a friendly tone. Checking her denim jacket and dark purple, knee length dress looked acceptable, she scurried off to the door. "Hi."

"Hey…" Lance said at the door.

"Come in." Kristin welcomed the boy in, he cautiously stepped in.

"Ooh, Kristin who is this fine young man?" Kristin's mother, a chubby woman with light cocoa brown hair asked.

"Mom, this is Lance. Lance, this is my mom, Carol." Kristin introduced.

"Kristin, is this your boyfriend?" She asked.

"No, we're just friends…" Lance said. Kristin shoulders slouched at his response, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, well… would you like to stay for dinner?" Carol asked.

"Actually, we're going to see a show tonight." Lance answered.

"Oh, that's great! Where at?"

"The park, it's where… Titan fought the robot dragon… thing." Lance said slowly. "There's a big clearing and the metal legs are still there."

"Sounds like fun, mind if an old lady tags along?" Carol asked, with a deep, warm laugh.

"Mom…" Kristin groaned.

"I'm just kidding, honey. Have fun on your date, be home before ten at least, your favorite show, _High school Heights_ is on."

"Bye mom." Kristin grabbed Lance's arm and dragged him to the car.

. . .

"Thanks again, have a good night!" Ilana waved goodbye to the moving men as they loaded into their truck. Most of Hannah's possessions that were too big to move by herself her laid out on the driveway. "Well, dad should be home soon, he can help us with getting this stuff upstairs." Ilana sat down on the empty frame of Hannah's bed, a bright brown, wooden, twin sized bed.

"I can't wait to meet him, seems strange that I'm moving in with you guys and I haven't met your foster dad yet…"

"He'll love you, I'm sure…" Ilana said, thinking that she'd actually already met him when she met Newton, but she didn't know that of course. They had sent Octus out for the day, and he'd be back to _meet _Hannah as dad when he got back. "Here he comes…" The Lunis' tan minivan rolled up from the driveway, and Mr. Lunis, a large man with a bushy brown mustache and a balding head stepped out of the car.

"Hi!" Ilana stood up to greet him.

"Hello, Ilana." He said, "Ah, you must be Hannah… I see you've already seen our home."

"Yes, and really… thank you so much, Mr. Lunis."

"Please, just call me George." Octus said.

"Okay." Hannah said brightly.

"Lance and Ilana have told me all about you over the phone… and I am deeply sorry about your father… but I do believe that we mustn't stop our paths in the face of tragedy, and keep moving forward." _George Lunis_ said. "You are welcome to stay here as long as you need, and I will provide food, clothing, and anything else you need in that time."

"Thank you… so much." Hannah walked up and hugged the man, he stood still with his back completely straight, Ilana shot him a look and did a hugging motion behind Hannah's back. Octus wrapped his thick, burly arms around the girl and kept them there for a moment until releasing.

"I'm going to start cooking dinner, Ilana can tell you our house rules and such." He said walking inside.

"After dinner, we'll move in your stuff." Ilana said.  
"Okay, sounds good." The two girls walked inside.

. . .

"So, who's playing at the show tonight?" Lance asked with his hands on the steering wheel, still somewhat angry at Newton/Octus for signing him up for the _date _without his consent, but he didn't say anything because part of him was happy to be around her. Considering how much they had in common.

"Um, opening act is _Dark and Bleak_… next playing is the _Rubber Band_ and _Killer Super Hippos… _then the final band is _Disenfranchised_." Kristin said looking on her phone.

"What?" Lance asked.

"_Rubber Band_… that's pretty witty…"Kristin smirked at the screen.

"No, did you say _Disenfranchised_ is playing?" Lance didn't want to see his old band play.

"Yeah, they're the ending band." Lance groaned at her response. "Why, what's up?"

"_Disenfranchised_ was my old band… I got kicked out for being too _mainstream…_" The boy said, stopping at a red light.

"Oh… but you're like… the most not mainstream guy, like ever."

"Yeah, after I got kicked out I started trying to attract less attention, but that obviously didn't work." Lance motioned to her, she managed a smile.

"Well, I'm sure the other bands will be worth it, I heard _Dark and Bleak_ is really good."

"Okay…"


	7. Chapter 7

"So, Hannah… how long have you lived in Sherman?" Mr. Lunis asked.

"Well, my dad and I moved here after my mom passed when I was ten. We still lived in Illinois before, just relocated because we couldn't pay the bills at our old house." Hannah said, taking a bite of her Mac and cheese.

"I see…"  
"So, what about you guys? I heard you're from out of country?"

"Well, I was born in California, Lance is from Canada and Ilana was born in England, but is an American citizen by birth."

"That's cool." Hannah took another bite. "Do you remember anything from England?"

"Not really, I was just born there, then came over to the states. My parents were from here." Ilana lied. The trio had set up an entire elaborate cover story.

"Got it…"

. . .

"This band is pretty good!" Lance shouted, trying to get his words across the blasting sound.

"What?" Kristin asked, pointing to her ears.

"This band is good!"

"Fish man gives wood?" Kristin echoed.

"No, the…" Lance pointed to the band on stage. "Band, is good!" He next did a thumbs up.

"Okay!" The music played on, the bands' each having the heavy metal rock feel, but the depressing lyrics Lance was fond of. One of the song's going as…

_You try so hard to be perfect._

_But just stop, because it's not worth it_

_Can't you see that no one cares?_

_You've got just yourself and all your prayers._

_It's their game and we're the players_

_But there can't be a winner without a loser_

_Even If you're beat, they need you to win_

_So stop caring, like you should have sooner._

Lance looked around, he saw Ian, the band leader of _Disenfranchised_, he looked stressed. But Lance didn't care, he had kicked him out of the band after all. "Next band up is _Killer Super Hippos_! Check out their CD's for sale at the left leg, little toe!" A teen announced on the microphone as the band set up.

"I guess some kids at school were talking about these guys, heard they're pretty good." Kristin told Lance before they started playing.

"Lance, man…" A hand was placed on his shoulder, he turned around to see Dunkin, the long haired blonde bassist from Disenfranchised.

"Yeah?"

"Need your help, dude… our new guitarist totally blew us off, I don't know where he went, man… you wanna sit in?" He asked.

"What… I don't even have a guitar…"

"Ian's using his Flying V, but he brought his Stratocaster too… we're playing the same songs we worked on when you were in the band except for one new one… please, dude… if we flub this gig, our career is over…"

"I though it didn't matter what people cared, as long as it was all about the music…" Lance said, remembering how they kicked him out with similar words.

"Man, it is… but you can't make music without cash… otherwise it's just garbage, literally! Our drum kit used to be made out of trashcans and duct tape!" Dunkin seemed fully passionate about his points, but he remained completely cool and collected like he always was. Lance thought for a moment, he looked at Kristin, who nudged him to go on.

"Alright, show me the tab and let me get used to the guitar…" Lance said, following his former band mate to the back of the legs.

. . .

"Okay, one… two… three… lift!" Ilana ordered, Hannah pulled up on her side of the heavy wooden bed, while Ilana had the other side. After a long moment of strain, they gently set it down.

"I think we got like… a quarter of a foot…" Hannah examined.

"It's not even that big of a bed…" Ilana examined it.

"It's some weird imported wood, it's really dense, doesn't chip, though."

"Okay, let's just bring all of the other stuff in. Your dresser and nightstand should be easier."

"Well, luckily the dresser doesn't have clothes in it, or it'd be heavier than the bed!" The girls laughed and slowly waddled inside, and up the stairs carrying the two smaller furniture items up. "We just_ had _to tell George that we didn't need any help…" Hannah mumbled.

. . .

"Ian, I got Lance, he says he'll sit in!" Dunkin announced; a flood of relief washed over the otherwise emotionless singer.

"Thanks Lance, our guy just ditched completely…" Ian passed Lance his second guitar, the raven haired boy played through a few licks to get used to it.

"So, what's the set list?" He asked.

"_Open the door, Wait for me, End of the World, Terrorized,_ _Left Behind,_ and _High Hopes._" Ian said, passing a piece of paper over with the titles and lyrics, with the chord charts and tablature scribbled underneath in pen.

"_High Hopes_ is new?" Lance asked, skimming through the lyrics.

"Yeah, everything else is the original stuff, you know… might be a bit rusty, but it'll come back…"

"Alright… I'll just run through the new one…"

"Guys, you're up…" A teen said.

"Alright, let's do this…" Alex, the drummer said, putting his drumsticks around his belt. Dunkin strapped his bass guitar to his back, so did Ian.

"I forgot about the climb…" Lance groaned.

"That's half of the fun…"


	8. Chapter 8

**The little parts of songs are original, i tried to capture the whole vibe of Disenfranchised, obviously there's not music, but you get it...**

The rush came back as soon as Lance stepped foot in front of the crowd, the adrenalin flooding over him, which was odd, considering he wasn't on the battle field, which was the usual place it occurred at, and his life was not in peril. But he still felt the rush.

The crowd cheered their applause, "Open the Door." Ian mouthed to Lance, then adjusted his microphone. "We're disenfranchised…" Alex counted in the song, and the band started playing. Lance quickly started to remember the music, and played it from memory. Taking a few _musical liberties_ every once and awhile, throwing in short fill solos.

Open the door, Wait for me, End of the World, Terrorized, and Left Behind all passed relatively easily, Lance only made a few errors, but none were all that noticeable. He knew the songs well, considering he helped write them. His nerves collected, however, when Ian announced their new song, _High Hopes._

Lance didn't play during the beginning; he was planning on waiting to get a feel for the song first, as he skimmed over the lyrics and chords.

_You're bright and sunny every day, perfect in every way._

_I cannot compare to you, I can only turn your colors grey._

_An angel shouldn't be with me, realize you're better than I, do you, nope._

_I cannot reach your high hopes._

Lance started strumming along with Ian, finding the rhythm and starting to get into it more.

_You deserve more than me, my love will never satisfy._

_Please don't deny, that you deserve more than I_

Lance thought about Ilana, a perfect, noble princess that he was tasked to protect. How was it that such a lowly Corporal had the high honor even speaking with her? She was very annoying sometimes, but he had grown to think of her as family.

_So I might just let you go, find someone new along the road_

_Why I left you, you will never know._

_No, it's nothing that you did; it's nothing that you said._

_It's that I cannot compare to you, you'll find someone better instead._

Scanning through the crowd, he saw Kristin waving at him, he smiled.

_Well I'll find someone new too, but she's not as good as you_

_She's got her faults, she's got her perks. And I love her in her quirks._

_But I still remember you, after I left you, cut the rope._

_Because I could never climb up to your High Hopes._

The band let the last notes ring out, the crowd broke out in applause, and the band unplugged their gear and headed down.

. . .

They gave up with the bed after a while; Hannah sat alone in her room on the soft blue rug that they brought in. Her phone started ringing; she walked over to her nightstand and answered it.

"Babe, where are you? I've been calling you all day…" Eric asked, she found that she could bear his loud voice by turning the speakers down.

"I'm at the Lunis' house." She answered simply.

"What? It's like Ten O'clock!"

"Yeah, I'm getting ready for bed." She tugged at her camo pajamas and skinny grey tee shirt.

"…What?" Eric asked confused.

"Yeah, if you heard the messages I sent _you_, you'd know I've just moved in with them."

"Why… would you do that? They're robots!"

"Eric, just stop… they're not robots, they're very nice, and caring people."

"…are you just saying that because they're watching?"

"No!"

"Oh… right…"

"Eric, they're not even in the room." She scoffed.

"They can hear…They're robots, babe…"  
"Will you stop calling me that?" Hannah asked, losing her patience.

"Whoa, someone's in a bad mood…"

"Yeah, I would be!"

"Babe, calm down… I'll come over in a bit, and we can talk."

"Stop calling me _Babe_, I have a name!"

"I know you have a name! Would I start dating someone that didn't have one?"

"Well, then why don't you use it?"

"Because it's a freaking nick name!"

"I have a very good nickname for you…"

"What's that, babe?"

"Insensitive moron."

"Insensitive? The only thing that I'm insensitive to is you're attitude, which I am fed up with!" Eric's voice could be heard, even though Hannah desperately turned it to the lowest volume.

"My attitude? You're the one who thinks you practically own me! I thought I was supposed to be your girlfriend, not your show pet!"

"Show pet? First off, I wouldn't even want to show you off to anyone! You know, I bet I could get someone way prettier than you, and way smarter and way more cooperative than you in a heartbeat. I don't think you'd have the same luck, let's not forget who you were before you met me."

"And what was that?" Hannah asked, holding back her tears and trying to sound tough.

"A loser! A loser who wears dingy old army crud to school every day, and has no friends."

"…I have friends."

"Really? Well, count em' off, babe?" Eric asked, almost laughing it seemed. Hannah didn't respond, her eyes burned and her breathing became uneasy. "Well? Right now we're at zero."

"Can you just shut up, Eric?" Hannah said, just realizing her voice had already cracked and tears ran down her soft cheeks.

"I don't want to fight you, but you need to chill out, babe."

"Stop calling me that"

"You see, you over react over every little thing! You're not giving me any options here, I'm trying to help you out. You need me."

"Why would I need _you_?"

"Because I'm all you got! No friends, no mom, a dumpy apartment and a dad overseas. Great, Hannah!"

"You know what; I don't need a jerk like you!"

"Alright, send a letter to your dad saying you just broke up with the only other person you have, the only other person that could tolerate someone like you."

"My dad's dead!"  
"What?"  
"We're done, Eric. Goodbye."

"Babe… if you hang up this phone! You'll be back, you need me!" Hannah ended the call and threw her phone on the carpet and started bawling.


	9. Chapter 9

"That was really cool." Kristin said as Lance came back down from the top of the stage after helping with the packing up of all of the gear, the rest of the audience had cleared out, and it was mostly empty besides a group of people who stayed behind to clean up.

"Thanks."

"My mom called, we better get back." Kristin said, they headed over to Lance's car.

. . .

"Hannah, you okay? What's going on?" Ilana knocked on the girl's door. She didn't get an answer. "I'm coming in, all right?" Ilana creaked open the door and saw the girl cuddled up against the wall with her long, beautiful brown hair over her bowed head. Quiet sobs came from her hidden face. "Hannah…"

The blonde sat down next to her, looking for a response. After a moment, a quiet voice came from her. "I just broke up with Eric…"

"Oh… I could hear your talk… don't worry, I didn't hear much…"  
"Oh… okay." Hannah looked up at the girl next to her.

"You need to talk about it?" Ilana asked softly, the girl shook her head. "You sure?" Hannah shook her head again. "Come here." Ilana put her arm around Hannah's back.

"He never listens to me… he just thinks everything's about him, and he didn't even know about what happened to my dad…" Hannah said. "Every time I see him, he's always with his stupid friends, and all they do is laugh about stupid things, and he never pays attention to me, despite all I give him."

"Well, he'll realize how much he needs you, and that he doesn't deserve someone like you." Ilana comforted.

"He said he'd find someone prettier, smarter, and more cooperative than me… on our first date, all he did was tell me how pretty I was, and how I was such a great person… and now he said I don't have any friends and how he's the only one who could tolerate me…"

"Well, don't let that get to you, none of its true. You're one of the prettiest girls at school and you're a terrific person."

"But, I have next to zero friends…"

"You have me… and Lance, and Newton… and Kimmy likes you, Tiffany likes you, Amber likes you, Jason too and Mirabel and Todd, and Meat adores you…" Ilana said smiling a comforting, warm smile. Hannah sat, thinking for a moment. All of the _ands_ worked, she was good at this.

"Thanks, Ilana." She leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder. "I'm really tired… but I don't have a bed." Hannah said playfully. Ilana smiled, remembering how much they struggled to move it only a few feet from the driveway.

"Lance should be home, he can help us. You can go downstairs and lay down."

. . .

"Thanks for coming…" Kristin said shyly, her hair drooping down over her face. The cool night air around them made their breath's visible as they stood in front of Kristin's front door.

"No problem, it was a pretty cool show." Lance said.  
"Well, yeah, you preformed." Kristin laughed.

"Yeah, but… it was a good show. We should do it again, sometime."  
"Really?" Kristin asked, amazed that the boy actually wanted to see her again.

"Sure."

"Well, maybe next time you'll actually supposed to be playing there."

"Maybe."

"Well, I'll see you at school."

"Yeah…"

"I look forward to it…"  
"Me too…"  
"Bye, Kristin." Kristin reached for the door handle to find it was locked.

"I'm gunna text my parents to let me in." She pulled out her phone, and before she was able to turn it on, dropped it out of her hands. With razor sharp reflexes, Lance lunged forward and caught the phone before it hit the ground. He slowly looked up at the girl, her heart melted as his deep, black eyes reflected from the porch light behind her. His dark hair matching the cool night sky, his muscular arms and broad chest.

He managed a light smile and stood up to meet her at eye level, his head moving in slowly. Without hesitation, Kristin closed her eyes and leaned forward with lips puckered.

"Okay, bye Kristin." Lance said, handing her back the phone, the girl's eyes darted open and she jolted back.

"Huh? Oh, okay… bye, Lance." She grabbed the phone, and watched him disappear into his car and drive away. And she'd lost him, yet again.

. . .

Lance's silver car pulled up the driveway, or halfway up the driveway. Stopping before hitting the bed that was laying in front of the garage which he was going to park his car in.

"Lance, how was your night with Kristin?" Ilana asked, coming out of the front door followed by Hannah.

"Oh, it was good, I guess. Went to a concert, I, uh… I played with _Disenfranchised_, so that was cool."

"You preformed on stage?" Ilana asked. "I thought you got kicked out?"

"I did, but their guitarist didn't show up, and I was there so…"

"Well, I'm glad to see you got to put on another show; I wish I could have watched." Ilana elbowed Hannah lightly.

"Um, Lance? Do you think you could help us?" Hannah asked softly.

"That depends…"  
"We have my bed out here, and we can't get it inside, could you help us lift it?"

"Uh, sure." Lance examined the bed, "Go get dad, we'll lift it upstairs." A few moments later, Ilana came downstairs with Mr. Lunis. "They need help moving this upstairs, you get this side, I got it here."

"Okay."

"You guys need help?" Hannah asked.

"Nah, we got it."

"It's pretty heavy…" Ilana said, knocking on the wood.

"Three… two… one. Lift." Lance ordered, the two men both lifted up the bed. Hannah and Ilana's jaws dropped as they carried it into the house with ease, tipping it sideways to fit through the door, then bringing it upstairs and into the room.

"How…"Hannah asked as they walked upstairs, the bed was lined up against the wall and Lance was setting down the mattress. Ilana helped Hannah pick out a pair of light blue sheets from the hamper and made the bed. "Thank you so much…"

"You are welcome, See, if we just use teamwork…" Mr. Lunis started.

"Dad…" Lance groaned, leaving the room.

"What, the power of teamwork is…" George Lunis looked around at the girls, Ilana looked very un-amused and Hannah quite the opposite. He left the room without further speech.

"Well, I'm going to call it a night." Hannah said, jumping onto her bed and laying down on her front.

"Alright. Goodnight, Hannah."

"Goodnight, Ilana." The girl fell asleep with the thoughts of her true friends, the Lunis'.


	10. Chapter 10

It was a new day, and school had started yet again. The Lunis' had woken up their sleepy guest and driven to school after breakfast. _Mr. Lunis _had already gone to work, and Newton came home from his extra curriculum studies for advanced minds. Hannah didn't question it, and just knew that Newton would be gone at nights for some really smart person classes.

Hannah walked down the halls, trudging in her favorite combat boots. "Yo, Hannah." A voice from behind her said. She turned around to see one of Eric's old friends.

"Heard Eric dumped you last night… that's a bummer, I'm always open if you wanna give me a call." He said with an overconfident smirk, leaning against a locker.

"Um… sure… I'll see, I'm pretty busy with… um, stuff."

"Right on." The boy flipped his long hair and walked away. Walking towards a group of other kids Hannah recognized, Eric was there and he started talking with the boy who flirted with her just then. They exchanged some sort of _fist bump_ then pointed towards her as she watched them. Just then, a girl wearing a very small short shirt and an even smaller shirt tugged her arms around Eric. Hannah's blood boiled, and she walked away.

. . .

"We can't keep this up much longer; she's going to figure it out." Lance said quietly as they walked down the halls to their second period class.

"I know, we can say Newton left for early college studies. That way, Octus only needs one identity to play." Ilana suggested.

"Yeah… alright, and what do we do if… something happens…" Lance said, referring to the rift gate, which opened when another Mutraddi attack was upon them.

"We can convince her to join after school activities, that will keep her alone and away while we can go and deal with it." Newton advised.

"This… is wrong… we invite her into our home, and she doesn't even know who we are." Ilana said with an empty expression.

"Well, as far as she's concerned, she has a roof, a heated room, food, and a ride to school." Lance kept walking as Ilana stopped.

"No, she needs more than that. She needs family…" The blonde followed.

"Well, we give her that too."

"We're feeding her lies."

"Sometimes lies are easier than the truth. I would've liked to hear lies… instead of the ugly truth." Lance stopped this time, he was told straight forward when he was only nine years old that his father was dead, and it was improbable that he would survive from testing his invention; the rift gate. He was told that even if he did survive, he'd be light years away in space. Lance convinced himself that his father was coming back, and he'd find away. But couldn't shake the fact that he truly believed the men.

"Lies, are false… and we only tell them to cover up our mistakes and for personal, selfish gain."

"And to protect people. She'll find out sooner or later, but let's give her time… she needs to get to know us better before we tell her about Titan. To let her think she knows us, just an adopted family living in Illinois. Okay? Then she'll get our real stories, but we'll still be the people she knows, our personalities won't change and I think that'll be easier on her. Okay?" Lance said, it was amazing how he always seemed to have a _battle plan._

. . .

"You don't need her, she left you… her mistake." Shannon, Eric's new girlfriend said seductively, putting his hands on his chest.

"But, I was a total jerk to her… I see that now."

"You were fine, she just overreacted. You're with me, anyways… and I'm much better than her."

"But… she was so loyal, despite all I did."

"She left, I'm here… who's loyal…"

"I guess you're…"

"I know I am…"

. . .

School was over, and the group sat around the fireplace doing their homework, almost quietly. The only noise was Lance's music emitting from his headphones. After a moment, Hannah broke the silence. "What'cha listening too, Lance?"

"Huh?"

"What are you listening too?" She said again in a friendly tone.

"Killer Super Hippos, I heard them play at the concert the other day, they played right before us."

"Unplug the headphones, we can listen to it." Hannah said.

"Uh, alright…" Lance pulled out the jack of his ear buds, then blasts of sound emitted from the speakers. Heavily distorted guitar riffs and deep bass notes filled the air accompanied by vivid drums and a smooth male singer. Hannah rocked her head to the quick tempo music, Ilana returned to her work as Lance awkwardly tapped his foot as the girl was fully moving in her seat while writing her paper.

After a few minutes, Lance started rocking his head with Hannah, who was now laughing at the very conserved teen danced with her in his chair.

_Just another day, I'll make another dollar._

_Honey if you need me, just give me a holler._

_I can be over, quarter after nine._

_Best to not be lonely, darling we'll be fine._

Lance started tapping on the table with his pencils. "Right on." Hannah said, humming to the music.

_Yet another way, to prove another fault or…_

_Work another shift and button up my collar._

_Tired of these lies, but the truth will show._

_You can run, but you can't hide, one day we will know._

Hannah started air guitaring to the solo as soon as it started, Lance managed a grin.

"Having fun?" Ilana asked, with a friendly, but serious tone.

"Just taking a little… educational liberty…" Hannah said sheepishly, getting back to her work. Lance turned down the music, and started working again.

. . .

Lance woke up staring at the ceiling, he wondered if it were Saturday yet. He recalled that it was Thursday yesterday, which sadly meant, it was not. He rolled over and read the clock on his bedside table. _6:14 AM_ it read.

The young soldier groaned, and escaped from his warm bed, and grabbed the nearest shirt and pair of pants that had been thrown on the floor from previous use. He quickly looked into the mirror, and ruffled his hair over his face just the way he liked it, and headed downstairs. He heard voices in the kitchen, Mr. Lunis' and Hannah's.

"I mean, I don't see why they have to play all of these ads." Hannah said, complaining at the kitchen TV as George cooked breakfast over the stove.

"Yes, it does seem rather ridiculous. If they are to play these advertisements, it would be more beneficial to play entertaining ones." He said in a dim, monotone voice, still attending to cooking.

A new commercial played on the screen. "Have you ever lost your TV remote, I know I have. Well, now with the new _Remote Holder_, you won't ever lose it again. Just secure your remote to the _Remote Holder _and attach it to your couch or a nearby table, and you'll never lose it!" A female announcer said informatively.

"Jeez, can you believe these people_, Remote Holder_? Minas well make a sock collector." Hannah scoffed.

"A sock collector would actually be quite interesting; they always seem to find a way to disappear…"

"Well, you're right there." Hannah laughed and showed off her feet, mismatching blue and green socks. "I've been here for three days, and I've already lost one of each pair… maybe we should invent that…" She joked; Octus seemed to be considering this quite literal. Lance decided to intervene before he took her up on the offer.

"Morning." He walked in and sat down at the table. "You wake up awfully early…"

"Yeah, my dad used to wake up at like five every day for his morning workout routine." Hannah answered.

"I see…"

"You've got quite a routine yourself, right? Ilana was saying you do like a hundred push-ups and stuff a day."

"Yeah, a hundred and fifty, actually." Lance said, he never really got the chance to brag very often.

"Nice."

"Eggs and bacon, anyone?" Octus asked.

"Yes please!" Both teens responded at once.

. . .

"Hey, Lance man… can we talk?" Ian asked Lance as he walked up the steps of Sherman High school.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"We've been talking, and our last gig… there weren't any of these mainstream kids from school, just the crowd who was into the music… and they loved you, man… you've changed. Maybe you'd consider joining the band again…"

"What, really?"

"Yeah… I mean, the music… you got it, man… we've got a gig at the promenade this weekend if you wanna sit in. Same set list, maybe you'd consider. It'd be great to have you back." Ian brushed the hair out of his face and waited for an answer.

"I'll think about it…" Lance said, already knowing his answer, but not wanting to seem desperate. Which was a sign of weakness.

"Alright, man… let us know, you know the number." Ian got up, patted Lance's shoulder and walked away.

. . .

_Disenfranchised_ played their usual warm up routine in Ian's mom's garage, when the garage door suddenly lifted up. "Hey…" Lance said, holding his guitar.

"Sup…" Dunkin greeted

"Yo." Alex said. Ian walked forward.

"Glad you could make it, man. We're just running through the songs, you can plug in your guitar in the amp over there, we got a petal board set up too." Ian directed.

"Got it." Lance unpacked his shiny, red guitar, tuned, and plugged in the jack.

"One… two, one two three four!" Alex counted in, and the bands started playing.

. . .

Lance set down a stack of skinny, white tickets on the dinner table as he walked into the kitchen where Ilana and Hannah were chatting. The girls approached the tickets on the table, Ilana read one aloud. "_Disenfranchised_ at the _Boxed Fish_, Saturday night 8:30 PM… Lance, that's great!"

"Yeah, so you guys can come if you want… we can get tickets for free, so…" Lance leaned against the counter and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Of course we'll come; we'll be there for sure." Ilana said with excitement.

"Yeah, that'll be totally rad…" Hannah said, examining a ticket.

"I'll see if Jason wants to come if that's alright, he'll love your music, I'm sure." Ilana said.

"Yeah, whatever, that's fine."

"Thanks Lance, I'll go call him." Ilana ran off, as soon as she left the room, Hannah looked at Lance.

"So, big brother? How do you feel about Ilana's boyfriend?" She asked, curiously.

"He's alright…" She gave him another look. "I don't like him."

"Why?"

"He's… not fit, for a person like Ilana… she's strong, and smart and beautiful… and he's a weak, awkward excuse of a man." Lance said. "But he makes her happy."

"That's good, it's okay to be a little unsure about him, every brother is that way with a sister as great as Ilana."

"I'm not unsure. I know to a full extend that I despise him." Lance managed a smile.

"Well, I'm looking forward to you show, Lance." Hannah said, making her way out of the kitchen. "You can expect me to be dancing up front." She smiled and left for her room upstairs.


	11. Chapter 11

School was over, and the group sat around the fireplace doing their homework, almost quietly. The only noise was Lance's music emitting from his headphones. After a moment, Hannah broke the silence. "What'cha listening too, Lance?"

"Huh?"

"What are you listening too?" She said again in a friendly tone.

"Killer Super Hippos, I heard them play at the concert the other day, they played right before us."

"Unplug the headphones, we can listen to it." Hannah said.

"Uh, alright…" Lance pulled out the jack of his ear buds, then blasts of sound emitted from the speakers. Heavily distorted guitar riffs and deep bass notes filled the air accompanied by vivid drums and a smooth male singer. Hannah rocked her head to the quick tempo music, Ilana returned to her work as Lance awkwardly tapped his foot as the girl was fully moving in her seat while writing her paper.

After a few minutes, Lance started rocking his head with Hannah, who was now laughing at the very conserved teen danced with her in his chair.

_Just another day, I'll make another dollar._

_Honey if you need me, just give me a holler._

_I can be over, quarter after nine._

_Best to not be lonely, darling we'll be fine._

Lance started tapping on the table with his pencil. "Right on." Hannah said, humming to the music.

_Yet another way, to prove another fault or…_

_Work another shift and button up my collar._

_Tired of these lies, but the truth will show._

_You can run, but you can't hide, one day we will know._

Hannah started air guitaring to the solo as soon as it started, Lance managed a grin.

"Having fun?" Ilana asked, with a friendly, but serious tone.

"Just taking a little… educational liberty…" Hannah said sheepishly, getting back to her work. Lance turned down the music, and started working again.

. . .

Lance woke up staring at the ceiling, he wondered if it were Saturday yet. He recalled that it was Thursday yesterday, which sadly meant, it was not. He rolled over and read the clock on his bedside table. _6:14 AM_ it read.

The young soldier groaned, and escaped from his warm bed, and grabbed the nearest shirt and pair of pants that had been thrown on the floor from previous use. He quickly looked into the mirror, and ruffled his hair over his face just the way he liked it, and headed downstairs. He heard voices in the kitchen, Mr. Lunis' and Hannah's.

"I mean, I don't see why they have to play all of these ads." Hannah said, complaining at the kitchen TV as George cooked breakfast over the stove.

"Yes, it does seem rather ridiculous. If they are to play these advertisements, it would be more beneficial to play entertaining ones." He said in a dim, monotone voice, still attending to cooking.

A new commercial played on the screen. "Have you ever lost your TV remote, I know I have. Well, now with the new _Remote Holder_, you won't ever lose it again. Just secure your remote to the _Remote Holder _and attach it to your couch or a nearby table, and you'll never lose it!" A female announcer said informatively.

"Jeez, can you believe these people_, Remote Holder_? Minas well make a sock collector." Hannah scoffed.

"A sock collector would actually be quite interesting; they always seem to find a way to disappear…"

"Well, you're right there." Hannah laughed and showed off her feet, mismatching blue and green socks. "I've been here for three days, and I've already lost one of each pair… maybe we should invent that…" She joked; Octus seemed to be considering this quite literal. Lance decided to intervene before he took her up on the offer.

"Morning." He walked in and sat down at the table. "You wake up awfully early…"

"Yeah, my dad used to wake up at like five every day for his morning workout routine." Hannah answered.

"I see…"

"You've got quite a routine yourself, right? Ilana was saying you do like a hundred push-ups and stuff a day."

"Yeah, a hundred and fifty, actually." Lance said, he never really got the chance to brag very often.

"Nice."

"Eggs and bacon, anyone?" Octus asked.

"Yes please!" Both teens responded at once.

. . .

"Hey, Lance man… can we talk?" Ian asked Lance as he walked up the steps of Sherman High school.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"We've been talking, and our last gig… there weren't any of these mainstream kids from school, just the crowd who was into the music… and they loved you, man… you've changed. Maybe you'd consider joining the band again…"

"What, really?"

"Yeah… I mean, the music… you got it, man… we've got a gig at the promenade this weekend if you wanna sit in. Same set list, maybe you'd consider. It'd be great to have you back." Ian brushed the hair out of his face and waited for an answer.

"I'll think about it…" Lance said, already knowing his answer, but not wanting to seem desperate. Which was a sign of weakness.

"Alright, man… let us know, you know the number." Ian got up, patted Lance's shoulder and walked away.

. . .

_Disenfranchised_ played their usual warm up routine in Ian's mom's garage, when the garage door suddenly lifted up. "Hey…" Lance said, holding his guitar.

"Sup…" Dunkin greeted

"Yo." Alex said. Ian walked forward.

"Glad you could make it, man. We're just running through the songs, you can plug in your guitar in the amp over there, we got a petal board set up too." Ian directed.

"Got it." Lance unpacked his shiny, red guitar, tuned, and plugged in the jack.

"One… two, one two three four!" Alex counted in, and the bands started playing.

. . .

Lance set down a stack of skinny, white tickets on the dinner table as he walked into the kitchen where Ilana and Hannah were chatting. The girls approached the tickets on the table, Ilana read one aloud. "_Disenfranchised_ at the _Boxed Fish_, Saturday night 8:30 PM… Lance, that's great!"

"Yeah, so you guys can come if you want… we can get tickets for free, so…" Lance leaned against the counter and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Of course we'll come; we'll be there for sure." Ilana said with excitement.

"Yeah, that'll be totally rad…" Hannah said, examining a ticket.

"I'll see if Jason wants to come if that's alright, he'll love your music, I'm sure." Ilana said.

"Yeah, whatever, that's fine."

"Thanks Lance, I'll go call him." Ilana ran off, as soon as she left the room, Hannah looked at Lance.

"So, big brother? How do you feel about Ilana's boyfriend?" She asked, curiously.

"He's alright…" She gave him another look. "I don't like him."

"Why?"

"He's… not fit, for a person like Ilana… she's strong, and smart and beautiful… and he's a weak, awkward excuse of a man." Lance said. "But he makes her happy."

"That's good, it's okay to be a little unsure about him, every brother is that way with a sister as great as Ilana."

"I'm not unsure. I know to a full extend that I despise him." Lance managed a smile.

"Well, I'm looking forward to you show, Lance." Hannah said, making her way out of the kitchen. "You can expect me to be dancing up front." She smiled and left for her room upstairs.

. . .

"She left me…" Eric said, pacing the space in the school parking lot, where he and his friends hung out on weekends.

"Shannon?" One asked.

"No, Hannah…"

"Oh."

"…I didn't realize how much I need her…"

"Well, then go get her." A second friend advised.

"Yeah, since when are you gunna let her tell you what she can or can't do. She wants you, she just don't realize it." A third said, putting his hand on Eric's back.

"You're right." He said softly.

"Women will love you for two ways, because they can't have you, or because you want them… or because you buy them things…"

"Yeah…"

"So, you make it seem like you want her… you want her real bad… you're sorry, you've changed… when she comes to talk to you, you're with someone else… she can't have you, and she'll be begging to be with you man, trust me… works every time." His friend schemed.

"Thanks guys… now we just need to find out where she'll be this weekend…" One of his friends pulled out his phone and scrolled through it for a moment.

"Lance Lunis is preforming at _Boxed Fish _tonight, twenty bucks says she'll be there."

"Well, then I guess we're going to a concert tonight." Eric said, opening his car door.

. . .

"Do you have everything packed?" Ilana asked, as Lance stuffed the rest of his equipment in the family minivan.

"Yeah." He said, closing the trunk. "We're showing up a few hours early for sound check, you guys can take my car…"He tossed Ilana the keys. "Newton can drive… do not crash it, don't park in a space without substantial space between cars…"

"Got it, Lance… thanks, good luck." She said, waving as Lance boarded the minivan and drove off.

. . .

"I can't wait… this is going to be great." Hannah said eagerly at their dinner table looking ahead at the stage inside the bar/restaurant building. Jason, Ilana, Newton, and Kimmy all showed up and sat around the table. The thought occurred to Hannah that she was the only one single, but Kristin hadn't shown up because of some family event, so selfishly, she felt a little better that Lance was alone too. She mentally scolded herself for the thought.

"I know, I'm so happy for him, finally getting back on stage." Ilana said, sipping her pink lemonade.

"Our waiter is approaching." Newton announced.

"Wait… I don't know what I'm getting…" Kimmy said, skimming through the menu.

"I'm getting the French onion soup, looks pretty good." Hannah said, pointing to it on her menu.

"Oh, yeah that does look good… alright, I'll get that. Thanks."

. . .

"There she is…" Eric's friend Thomas said, pointing to the table with the _popular cheerleader_, the _large super nerd_, _loser boy_, and _doofus girl_. And the _ex_.

"Alright, let's sit down over here, behind them." Eric said, pointing to a bar styled table where all of the seats faced the stage.

"Gunna wanna wait 'til her friends are gone, catch her after the concert." Thomas suggested.

"Yeah…"

. . .

Lance stepped onstage, a mild cheer and the clatter of dishes up roared. Dinner concerts weren't something Lance had done before, it wasn't formal, but it certainly wasn't a free for all crowd concert.

"We're disenfranchised." Ian said, letting Alex count in the song.


	12. Chapter 12

"That was great, Lance!" Ilana said as he came towards the table after the performance was done, another band took the stage after their set and was now playing.

"Yeah, that was totally rad." Hannah said handing him a plate of fries. "Might be a bit cold."

"Thanks."

"Very good show, Lance." Newton complimented.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool." Jason said with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Great job, Lance." Kimmy cheered.

"Thanks." There was a voice on the microphone; the crowd looked up to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for a special request, for our last song we'd like to invite all of our couples out there to come to the center of the room." He announced.

"Come on, Newton." Kimmy said dragging him by his arm.

"Want to check it out?" Jason asked.

"Sure." Ilana said, they walked forward with their hands intertwined. Lance sat down with a twisted face as he watched Jason and Ilana dancing to the slow love song that was playing now.

"You okay?" Hannah asked, sitting next to him.  
"Huh, yeah…" He responded. Hannah looked around; they were pretty much the only ones still sitting.

"Come on." The girl stood up and stared at him with her deep, sea green eyes.

"What?"

"Let's dance."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because, we're all alone over here by ourselves, no sense in that." Lance didn't respond for a second. "It's just a dance, I won't give you cooties. Come on." She took his hand and rushed up to where everyone else was. Eric stopped in his tracks, behind their table and watched.

"So, uh… what do we do now?" Lance asked.

"I donno…" She took the teen's hand, he tensed slightly, but soon relaxed. "My dad taught me this, it's totally retro, just take my hands…" Lance clasped both of her hands, and they slowly moved forward and backwards, then Hannah pulled away one of her hands, allowing Lance to spin her around. "Yeah, now you're getting it." Lance managed a smile.

Hannah moved forward, and intertwined the hold of her arm with Lance's and they walked around in circle for a moment, Hannah stared at Lance's muscular arms. Next, she stepped back, Lance did the same thing, and they immediately came back together in their original position. "This is kinda fun…" Lance said.

"Yeah." Hannah spun around and bumped into a large teen with a pink and red Mohawk. "Sorry."

"Watch it." He grunted, stopping his dancing, his girlfriend watched eagerly to see how he would react, then stared at Lance and Hannah.

"I didn't mean to bump you, man." She said.

"Well, you did."

"Hey, back off." Lance said, stepping in.

"You wanna back off?" The punk said, towering over Lance.

"Excuse me? She only bumped into you, take it easy. It was an accident."

"So is this." The punk shoved Hannah and Lance onto the floor with both of his hands. His girlfriend started laughing. Lance helped Hannah up, and then walked up to the man.

"You wanna take this outside?" Lance gritted through his teeth.

"Bring it. Come on babe." He said, the four teens left the building and stood in the stone brick path under the cool night.

"You should think twice before pushing us down like that…" Lance said, blood fully boiling.

"Make me…" He pushed him again, Lance grabbed his arm before it touched town, and quickly swung it around and bent it the opposite direction. The punk cried out in pain, after a moment of gathering himself, he sent a full sized fist towards Lance. The young soldier sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and deflected the teen's other hand as it came towards his lower gut.

With one swift movement, he pushed off of both of his arms and jumped into the air, and sent his foot flying into the Mohawk's lower jaw, then pulling a back flip to land swiftly on his feet. He watched with satisfaction as he fell backwards. Some more guys came outside from the bar. "Help, he just beat up Rocko!"

"We saw…" One of the three guys said. "Come on." He grabbed Hannah's shoulder, she quickly grabbed his wrist and stomped on his foot. Then she sent a quick fist into his chin and pushed him down. Then backed away towards Lance.

"Nice…" Lance admired.

"My dad taught me a thing or two…"

"One thing though, you're gunna want to improve your stance, legs spread apart, slightly crouched. Lance walked up to the next guy as he charged, he crouched his legs and spread them slightly apart with a very sturdy looking stance. Then he kicked his leg forward at the man's shin, and as he fell forward, grabbed his shoulder with one hand and punched his gut with the other. Then, raised his other leg and kneed him in the chest, then swiftly pushed him aside. Hannah copied Lance's stance.

"This good?"

"Yeah, like that." He said. The last of the grunts ran forward, holding a long metal pipe. Lance grabbed the pipe with one hand and twisted it out of his hand. Disarmed, he threw a punch at the solder, which was blocked with Lance's wrist. Frustrated, he swung a series of punches, all deflected with only one of Lance's arms. "See, with proper stance, my center of gravity is balanced, and it's a lot harder to knock me down. The boy stopped punching and ran forward to tackle.

He simply sidestepped and left his opponent diving onto the ground. "I can also evade very easily." The other two men got up and got back in the fight. Hannah took stance, and deflected a punch with her forearm like Lance had, then pushed away both of her opponent's hands and let two punches as hard as she could. "Don't put all of your energy into one blow, concentrate on leaving your opponent defenseless, then use a series of many quick, but powerful attacks.

Lance kicked high enough to block a punch, then knocked the other arm away from his chest, leaving his body fully exposed, he then let out multiple punches, and pushed the man down when he was done. "I can get more damage done with a lot of quick blows, versus a few powerful ones. Your last hit should be with everything you've got."

Hannah went to block another opponent's blow, but he caught her wrist before she could. Without hesitation, he started twisting it, and let a few quick blows of his own onto the girl. She fell to the floor, before she could get up, he kicked her in the ribs. Lance's instincts kicked in, he ran towards them at full speed and tackled the man as he was about to kick again. While on the floor, he got underneath his opponent and kept him in a chokehold until he went unconscious.

"You okay?" He asked, helping Hannah up.

"Not really, but I'll be fine…" She groaned.

"We should get out of here, before the police show up. I'll text Ilana, we can take my car… everything's already packed up in the van, they can take that home." Lance said, grabbing Hannah's arm and slowly making their way to the car. "Sorry I had to drag you into that…" Lance said. "I shouldn't have fought back."

"No, he started it… I just messed up, that's all."

"You did a good job, though."

"Well, my dad said I needed to learn to defend myself, since I'd be growing up alone pretty much."

"Yeah, you've got the general concept down… there's a lot to learn, though. I could teach you, if you want."

"Sure, maybe later…"

"Yeah, of course." Lance said, helping her in the car, then heading over to his side.

. . .

"What happened?" Eric asked, helping up his friends.

"Rocko bumped into them, and brought them outside, just like we planned… that Lance guy took him down… like nothing I've ever seen, he beat the crud out of us. He took Hannah home."

"That son of a…" Eric gritted though his teeth. "Who does he think he is, roughing up my boys? Stealing my girl… this is personal between me and him…"


	13. Chapter 13

"Pay me five hundred up front, and you get two weeks surveillance…" Said a raspy teen holding a very nice camera. His grey hat and dark brown overcoat giving him a dark and mysterious aurora.

"You got yourself a deal…" Eric said, friends behind him. "Thomas, two fifty please." Thomas handed Eric two hundred dollar bills and a fifty.

"I said five hundred…"

"Markus… I'll see how your pictures turn out, and I'll give you the rest then. Take good shots, or you'll only get the two fifty." Eric said sternly.

"Doesn't work that way, bro… I get my pay upfront."

"Works that way now… Thomas? Eric asked, his friend handed him a shiny, silver handgun.

"Now… the only reason I ain't taking the pictures myself is that I can't hold a camera steady, but I got no problem keeping a still firearm…" Eric said, pulling back the slide on the pistol. "Are we on the same page here?"

"…yeah…" Markus grabbed the money out of Eric's hand, nervously eyeing the gun. "I'll see you in two weeks, full package. Photographic evidence and an occasional video…"

"Good. Perform well, and there's no reason we won't give you your full pay. But don't skimp out on quality, you can go."

. . .

"Lance, can you come here, please?" Hannah asked from the living room, the boy slowly made his way down stairs.

"Yeah?" He asked. Hannah picked up a dark brown acoustic guitar, shiny polished wood with gold tuning pegs and a white trim.

"Whoa, where'd you get that from?" Lance asked, now interested.

"Got it in the mail, it was my dad's; he brought it along overseas before he… died. A friend of his sent it over."

"Oh, it's a very nice guitar… may I?" Lance asked, the girl handed him the guitar. He quickly tuned it up, and strummed a few chords. "It's got really good sound…" Lance observed.

"Thanks, I was wondering if you'd teach me how to play it… I know like, three chords, but now that I've got a nice guitar… and I have a nice teacher…" Hannah asked sweetly. Lance stared her down a minute, it was a friendly glare, but his gaze would make anyone want to melt and hide in their shoes.

"Sure. Be right back." Lance headed upstairs and came back down with his tan acoustic and a notebook of various chords and riffs, which he laid on the table in front of the two as they sat next to each other, Lance demonstrating a few chord progressions.

. . .

"So… uh, do you need another drink?" Jason asked, eyeing Ilana's empty drink. She'd taken him to another party with Newton and Kimmy, which he enjoyed because he got to be with her.

"No thanks, I think I'm fine for now." She replied.

"Okay… so, uh… how do you like Hannah? Is it weird adjusting to her living with you?"

"Well, she's more social than Lance, so she comes down every once and a while, but mostly she'll just be upstairs. That's understandable, considering her loss recently…"

"Yeah, oh hey… come on, I want to show you something.

. . .

"Okay… so this is your G chord, put your fingers down like this…" Lance instructed, pointing to a diagram and showing the fingerings on his guitar. Hannah repositioned her hand several times until she got it. "Good, now strum it." Lance let the open chord ring. Hannah did the same thing, but was only followed by a few notes and buzzing.

"Ew…" Hannah grimaced at the horrible sound her instrument made.

"That's alright, just push down harder and keep your fingers in the fret box. If they're on the far side, it'll buzz. So keep them more towards the middle, or further in."

"Um… okay…" Hannah adjusted and tried again, a beautiful chord rang out. "Yay!"

"Okay, now we're going to switch to a C chord…"

"Aw… but I just learned this one…"

"Yeah, and we're going to switch to E minor and then to D, and then back to G." Lance said patiently. Hannah lifted her hand off of the fret board, sad to see her accomplishment disappear, and shaped her fingers to match Lance's.

. . .

"Wow, it's really clear from up here…" Ilana marveled at the stars above from the top of a grassy hill not far from the house party, Jason pulled out his phone and waved it around the sky.

"You see, I got a new app in astronomy club… it points out consolations and stuff, pretty neat."

"That's cool." Ilana said as Jason moved it around the sky, pointing out famous shapes such as the big dipper and a belt of some sort. Ilana gazed up at the open night sky and leaned her head against Jason's shoulder, she couldn't tell him, but up in the stars somewhere was her home planet. In some solar system far away, Galaluna waited for her… waited in broken pieces, at the feet of the Mutraddi. She wanted to return home, but she knew they needed to hide on Earth, being the King's daughter, and sole heir to the throne.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"Yeah…" Ilana said softly. "This reminds me of my old home, in California… I lived there for a while. Thanks for showing me this." Ilana lied; it didn't matter if he didn't know her real story, that she was a princess of a war torn planet. Because he didn't love her for that, he loved Ilana Lunis, he loved her for her.

She stroked her hands on the tall grass that shone bright white from the moon, and gazed off at the city lights and stars above. Jason didn't say anything in response, words were not needed. He simply turned Ilana's cheek and kissed her, on the lips for their very first time.


	14. Chapter 14

Three months went by; Ilana had been out with Jason almost every day in between. What they were doing, Lance didn't know, but he didn't like it. He'd taught Hannah a lot of things on the guitar, they even went down to the local store and bought her a nice electric plugin. A very expensive Les Paul, the same model as Lance's except it was dark blue with yellow stripes running on the edges and around the features.

Octus/Newton had been off with Kimmy late, so they had told Hannah that Mr. Lunis had a business trip to cover for both of the absences. Lance had gone out to see another concert with Kristin once in the time, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving Hannah alone in the house, considering the other Lunis' were usually out and about until nine or ten.

Lance sat on the couch in the living room, watching the flat screen TV they mounted over the fireplace recently. His eyes attentively observing the American Civil War special, either admiring or critiquing battle plans and strategies. He heard Hannah's electric guitar playing from upstairs, and leaned back in his chair and relaxed.

He hadn't had the luxury of just enjoying a home for the majority of his life, and it was nice just to kick back and pretend he was just another teenager. Of course, he never let his guard down. His comm. device was ready to call Ilana and Octus, and he was ready with an excuse to leave just in case the Mutraddi attacked again, which they hadn't in months. Strange.

. . .

Jason chuckled to himself as he sat next to Ilana by the water's edge, sinking his bare feet into the soft, cold sand, gazing off into the pitch black water with reflection of the crescent moon lighting it. "What?" Ilana asked.

"Nothing…" Jason said softly. "I was just wondering how I got so lucky." He leaned in and kissed Ilana, and went back to the silent gaze. "So, you know the school dance coming up soon?"

"Yeah?" Out of nowhere, someone threw a heavy rock at the two. It was obviously going to hit Jason, because he raised his guard, but the rock fell short and landed in the sand not far from the thrower.

"Hey watch it!" Jason said heroically, then sighed and slapped his forehead as the mysterious figure ran away shouting: "No way, woo hoo, I love unicorns!" and then spinning around in a circle and running off.

Jason walked over with Ilana to pick up the stone. "Oh, hey… wow, Ilana look at this" He said slowly. Ilana looked at the rock's other side, painted on it was a repeating green and red pattern with black letters that read…

_Will you go to the dance with me? Please? –Jason._

Ilana smiled and held the stone. "Of course." Jason smiled. "Next time, you can just ask me… I heard you and your friends talking about how you were going to catch the rock before it hit me, and then ask me out… next time a few flowers will do…" She laughed, wrapping her hands around Jason's.

. . .

"What do you wanna do?" Hannah asked, bored on the couch next to Lance.

"I don't know… wanna play guitar?"

"Been playing for the last couple hours…"

"Right."

"Video Games?"

"I already maxed out the playtime limit dad set up."

"Oh. Wanna watch TV?"

"Nothing but High school Heights on the DVR."

"I hate that show…"

"Finally, someone else with some sense!" Lance chuckled.

"It's so stupid, those shows are super dramatic… my boyfriend hasn't texted me in two hours, boo hoo…" Hannah scoffed.

"Yeah…"

"Anyways, the show's all about breakups and Ex-boyfriends. Why would I want to watch it on TV when I can just call Eric?"

"Because that's how mainstream media works."

"Well, you're right there… ever been in a bad relationship?"

"Nope." He said simply.

"Oh, so you're the heartbreaker?" Hannah teased.

"Not really, I've never really been in a relationship…"

"Really? The school's strongest, coolest; most popular Lance Lunis has never had a girlfriend?" Hannah asked interested.

"Never found someone worth the time."

"What about Kristin, she's nice?"

"Yeah, but she reminds me of myself…"

"Well, you have a lot alike…"

"Why would I want to date someone like me?" Lance asked with a light laugh. "No fun in that…"

"I see…" Hannah said softly. "Hey, want to outside?"

"What?"

"I donno, let's go hang out at the neighborhood park or something…" Hannah suggested.

"I'd rather not…"

"What else are we going to do? Come on, you can help me with my martial art stuff." The girl pulled him by the arm playfully, he didn't budge. She tried with all of her force, but he didn't move even slightly, it didn't even look like he was trying. She pulled one more time, slipped, and fell on the cushioned chair behind her.

"Lesson one, find you center of balance, or you'll stumble with your own feet before the opponent even attacks." Lance said, obviously having fun with her. "I'll get my jacket."


	15. Chapter 15

"Balance is key, that and agility and stamina… your opponent can be the strongest man in the world, but if you can evade him and keep on your feet longer, then you have the upper hand." Lance said from the top of the monkey bars, Hannah climbed up and balanced her feet on two of the bars. "Okay, good… now, slowly make your way over to me." Hannah made her way to Lance one foot at a time. "Good, keep your feet apart and knees bent like this… when we go and stand on flat ground, position yourself like you are still on the bars, only keep your feet spread apart in this relative proximity… if you move, only move with your stance still intact."

Lance demonstrated, bending his knees slightly and stepping three bars apart. He faced sideways, and swung his front leg back to meet another bar three feet back, but keeping the original rear to the front. Hannah copied and switched stances.

"Okay, keep that in mind." Lance said, jumping down.

* * *

An hour or so past and Lance and Hannah were still in the dark, despite the cold, their workouts made it very hot. Lance and Hannah had taken off their jackets, and Hannah had tied her tee shirt's lower section to leave her slim belly exposed. "Okay, we're going to try a skirmish to see where you're at… remember default stances, ready position, feet placement, and energy conservation… we're going to fight, but no punches will be landed, it's only to focus of balance and planning." Lance demonstrated by swinging his fist, and stopping a few inches in front of her face. "It's strategy to out maneuver your opponent."

"Alright…" Both of them took fighting positions. Hannah swing her fist at Lance, he simply blocked it. She sent another, only to be deflected. Quickly, she sent a rapid assault of punches and kicks, but all were blocked.

"Don't use all of your energy, simple movements and quick blows, or you'll exhaust yourself before you even land a blow." Lance grabbed her arm as she attacked, swung under it and stopped his fist at her lower arm. Quickly, Hannah grabbed his fist and flung it down to the floor, using her other hand to push down the instructor. "Very good." Lance said with a smile.

He swung around his legs while on the floor and tripped Hannah, she fell on the soft grass and quickly rushed towards Lance, grabbed his arm, pulled it upward and around behind his back, and stood on the face down teen. Both of them had smiles on their faces, "Gotcha."

"Very good run, but I was going easy…You got lucky, but none the less, very good." Lance complimented, then, with one hand, he pushed up, forcing the girl off of his rear, then back flipped over Hannah, nimbly landed on the ground behind her, and kicked his foot, stopping a few inches or so away from her head.

"Not my head…" She complained lightly as Lance lowered his foot.

"Of course, in real combat, your opponent will not hesitate. But you did a good job." Lance complimented, something he hardly did.

"Thanks, it's all your teachings."

"Yeah, I know." Lance smirked, then turned around to head back. The two walked beside each other in the dark, cool night. Both of their blood was pumping, adrenalin running through their veins. Lance observed the girl next to him. Nice, strong, caring, musical, funny, and she wasn't half bad at fist to fist combat. She was a pretty _cool_ person. He smiled, she was good, for a beginner, but had a lot to learn.

He felt like he could help this planet a little by teaching her something, he'd help her perfect her skills; it'd give him something to do after school. Lance turned to face the girl, then, without warning, he sent his fist flying towards her. She ducked down, evading the blow and stood up from her crouched position.

"Whoa, dude! What the heck?" She protested, Lance sent another strike aimed at her temple, she raised her arm and blocked it with her wrist. Then, she sent a punch to Lance's gut with her free hand. He simply blocked the attack, and grabbed her wrist. The boy placed his foot behind Hannah's leg, then swung her hand backwards, landing her on the floor. He pinned both of her hands above her head against the pavement, then held her feet in place with his own.

"Hannah, I'm mentally insane…" Lance said calmly.

"What?" Hannah stared up at the teen above her, his face close to hers. She could see her own reflection in his deep, dark eyes. His long hair dropped down onto her face, his burly arms extending over her.

"I'm mentally insane, and I'm attacking you. How are you going to get me off? Consider your options…" She looked at the boy, it was obviously some test because he was holding back a small smile, his soft eyes gazed into hers. His essence was vigilant and alert, but behind that, sad and unsure. She couldn't pinpoint what it was, he was such a strong, but sealed off person, who hardly showed emotion. That's what he was known for at school, for being the ultimate bad boy, not talking to anyone and just shutting off the rest of the planet. But at the park, he showed more than that, he was warm and sweet. Accepting and patient… she gazed into his handsome face as he watched carefully for what she was going to do.

His muscular arms held hers down, but they were gentle. Lance smiled lightly, it was a shame he didn't act like this at school… not jumping on top of people, but the fact that he was caring enough to teach her, and let her live with him. He'd been kinder, and more accepting than Eric ever was. He didn't complain ever, he listened to her when she was talking, like he understood everything she was going through.

Mr. Lunis adopted orphaned kids, so it was possible he went through something just like her. She didn't know much about him, but the fact that he actually cared, matter or not if he understood was more than Eric had ever given her. "So, how are you going to get me off? Something I'd never expect…"

Hannah looked up at the boy slyly, and without warning, shot her face forward and kissed the teen on the lips.


	16. Chapter 16

"Aaahhhgg! This is so stupid!" Eric screamed to himself. He paced back and forth through his room, and suddenly punched the wall, finding his arm in the drywall. Pulling his arm out, he groaned loudly and searched his desk for a picture frame to put over the hole.

After a moment of searching, he found a picture of him and Hannah at the Sherman fair last summer. They were sitting in the seat of a Ferris wheel that had a view of the city. Hannah's arms were wrapped around his chest and her head leaned against his shoulder with a cheerful expression. He smiled unenthusiastically as he looked at the camera with his arm around her back.

Eric stared at the photograph, then threw it on the floor. "I don't need you… have fun with your stupid titan freaks."

* * *

Lance's head shot back so fast even Mike Chan would admire the speed. The teenager's eyes were wide open, and his mouth hung open, cheeks rose red. Hannah didn't dare look him in the eyes after he pulled away, her move went a lot better in her head. "Lance…" She said cautiously, looking up to see him already on his way back to the house.

* * *

Hannah walked downstairs, into the kitchen where Newton was cooking breakfast, listening to Ilana talking about something involving the soccer team. Lance was shoveling scrambled eggs and bacon into his mouth when all three of the Lunis' looked up to the girl. "Good morning, Hannah." Both Ilana and Newton said in unison.

Lance simply looked up from his food, stared a moment, them managed a "Morning."

"Eggs and bacon?" Newton asked, displaying a hot plate.

"Yes, please." Hannah accepted the dish and sat down at the table near Lance. The two sat alone; with Newton still attending to the stove, and Ilana leaning near him with talk of soccer strategies. "Lance, can I talk to you later?"

"About what?" He asked, still not looking up.

"About… last night…"

"If you want to work on your form, I'll leave some diagrams in the living room." Lance took one last bite and headed to the sink to rinse his plate.

"No… I mean, about… I'm sorry, that was completely out of line."

"It's fine, you were tired, it was late and you've been through a lot lately." The teen said casually, he turned around and looked her in the eyes for the first time that morning. Hannah secretly cursed the universe because of how handsome he was without even trying.

"Okay, yeah… so we're cool, we can just… forget about it?"

"Maybe not forget… but move on." Lance walked out of the kitchen, passing Hannah.

"What was that about?" Ilana asked.

"Huh? Nothing… we were training last night." Hannah said, staring out the door of the kitchen. She turned around and sat back down at the table.

* * *

_Lance… how stupid can you possibly be? _Lance mentally scolded himself while pacing back and forth in his room. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to this, Hannah kissing him in all… he certainly didn't expect that. His reply was pure idiocy… "Maybe not forget, but move on?" What was he, some monk from the Kung Fu movies he watched? That didn't even make sense!

She didn't actually love him; she just wanted to fill some hole by using him. She probably needed some comforting after her dad dying and breaking up with Eric, and he was the nearest eligible guy. So why did he reject her? She who was going through exactly what he was years ago, to be orphaned, left alone to fend for himself in the cold, cold world.

He'd been sent to Galalunian military academy for years, and his father's reputation didn't make him the most popular kid there. His dad died testing the Rift Gate, a lot of the bullies remarked he blew himself up. The fact that his father was good friends with the king, automatically associated Lance as a rich snob, which also was not a popular trait. His antisocial behavior even at a young age made him quiet and _weird. _Every kid hated him, or was afraid of him because of his uncontrollable temper.

Anything he wanted he had to fight for; Lance had to fight just to keep the clothes on his back. He had to train to be stronger, be better than the bullies, had to hold himself back when he could easily kill any of them. He had to hold in his emotions, his loss, his anger, his confusion to avoid seeming weak. All the fighting made him strong, even though it got him the high honor of protecting Ilana, if he could have somehow evaded all of those events, he would.

And now that Hannah was put in that same spot, and she turned to him for comfort… he did what? Rejected her, just like everyone had done to him. He didn't know if he any feelings for her, she was pretty and kind, and she was strong and had pretty much shared all of his interests... she obviously saw something in him, it was strange that all of the Earthlings seemed to admire him, considering he was the reject of Galaluna.

Lance had never had a girlfriend before… and he had to admit, it would be nice to be in that situation, like he saw in _High School Heights, _but Hannah didn't know him… she knew Lance Lunis, but he wasn't him. He was a soldier, being hunted by the evil Mutraddi… he'd killed, he'd seen battle, he'd done a lot of things he wasn't proud of. If there was one thing, he didn't want to see Hannah get hurt any more… if she were to love him, she'd only be falling for a false identity. If she knew the truth, and still wanted that kiss, then so be it.

But he couldn't let anyone think so much of him when he was nothing. That's why he often shut himself off to Ilana, he wasn't worthy. The king only chose him to protect Ilana because he was the only one left, Hannah only chose him… because he was the only one left. He only got things because he was the only person strong enough to stick around. He was like a parasite; no one could get rid of him if they tried.

So why did everyone on Earth have interest in him? He must be something… maybe he should talk to her about it… maybe not. He did say they would just move on… stupid! Why would he want to just move on… he didn't want to forget, but he knew they couldn't work. So why was this so difficult? He could help her, he could _save_ her… he wasn't going to sit by while she suffered like he had.

He got up and headed over to Hannah's room, then all courage abandoned him and he retreated back into his room.

* * *

**Sorry for the super long wait... Shout out to her royal highness of long posting intervals (Orange H) :) yeah, I read the comments**

**please review, I'll update soon hopefully**


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey… Hannah, I've been thinking about the other night… and, uh… well, you know? It's like… uh... well. What I'm trying to say is, is that I think you're pretty cool and I totally overreacted…" Lance said awkwardly, he cupped his face in his hands and groaned to his mirror. "Hannah, you kissed me. I know I ran off at first, but I'm going to help you. I think you're a great person, and I know you're going through some…stuff, so for your own good… I'm going to accept you…"

The young soldier stared into his own dark eyes. "Hannah, I've been thinking about the other night and how you must be having a hard time… no, no… that seems like I think about her a lot. Hannah, can I talk to you about the other night? I know you've been having some pretty harsh times, and I understand... I shouldn't have pushed you away, because truthfully… I think you're a pretty cool and amazing person, but I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship, but if your serious about that kiss, and you… um… like me, then I… uh, like you… too…" Lance smirked at his truthful and appealing greeting, a battle strategy that would make Tarax himself proud.

"Awww… that one's perfect, Lance." A soft voice said from behind. Lance shot his head around to see Ilana standing at the doorway.

"How long were you standing there?" He asked sternly.

"A few minutes."

"uhg… don't you know what knocking is?"

"I did knock, several times." She defended.

"Whatever, just don't tell Hannah…"

"Oh no, my lips are sealed. Don't worry, Corporal Smooth Moves, your secret's safe with me." Ilana chuckling at her own joke. "Corporal Smooth Moves, I'll have to remember that. These Earth _nicknames _are so bizarre…" She said to herself as she left.

Lance stared at his mirror for a moment, seeing his own shock and embarrassment in the reflection. "Idiot."


	18. Chapter 18

Lance walked downstairs, quickly scanning the room to make sure no one was around. Satisfied to see the living room empty, he made his way into the kitchen where Hannah was sitting at the table with a cup of hot chocolate. "Morning." He greeted, opening the fridge.

"Good morning." Hannah responded cheerfully as Lance grabbed a package of toaster waffles, his new favorite food. After popping the frozen food in the toaster, he sat next to Hannah, who was reading over some mail addressed to her.

"What's that?" Lance asked curiously.

"A few magazines, last quarter's report card…" She said, skimming through the papers. "…and a letter from the Illinois military department?" Hannah opened up the letter and read through it. "It's from my Uncle Roger, he's coming to visit."

"You have an uncle?"

"Well, he's just a close friend of my dad's, he's not actually related."

"Oh." Lance stood up at the sound of his waffles finishing. "Listen, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well…" He turned around and stared at her with a serious expression. "um, my band's got a gig tonight, wanna come?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." He shot her a slight grin and sat back down. _Idiot_

. . .

Adrenalin, cheap lighting, loud cheers, sweat, the smell of the band mates cramped on a small stage. Lance took in the atmosphere as he strummed his guitar, switching his glance from the crowd to his instrument. The young boy couldn't bear to look at Hannah during the song.

_Every day, I have to see your face._

_How can you be so close, but far away._

_Please tell me… oh, please tell me… what you need._

_If I love you, it doesn't matter._

_These signs show up in patterns_

_Does she love me? My heart is tattered._

_So tell me, oh tell me, what you need._

_You're not for me, you'll find someone better._

_As much as I do, I don't wanna be together._

_You think you know me, yeah whatever._

_So just tell me, what it is you need._

* * *

"Dude, great show!" Hannah complimented as the band came out after the majority of the crowd had left.

"Thanks." Lance said looking down, suddenly becoming interested in his shoes and guitar case.

"Hey, so there's a place down the road where we can get a bite to eat, wanna head over?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah… sure."

"Great, we can just hang out by ourselves before we head back to the house."

"Yeah, hey, can the guys come?" He asked before being sharply jabbed by a drumstick.

"Nah, sorry man… I gotta get home." Ian said.

"Yeah." The others said.

"Alright… then, can you take my guitar to the van and drop it off with the rest of the gear at your place?" The guitarist asked.

"No problem." Ian said. "Why don't you come take it to the van."  
"Okay." Lance started to take the notion that they wanted to say something. "Hannah, why don't you go reserve our seats, I'll be there in a minute."  
"Got it." The girl walked off. As soon as she was out of an earshot, Ian cut in.  
"Is that the girl the new song's about?"

"What?"

"Is it?"

"Well… uh, yeah." Lance said quietly. The entire group groaned.

"If a girl wants to have dinner alone, you don't invite your friends." Dunkin said wisely.

"Yeah, 'specially gross ones like us." Alex commented, spinning his drumsticks. "Dude, she's totally into you… I can sense that stuff… with my powers."

"Your powers?" Lance asked.

"My powers… you feel me, bro?"

"I think what he's trying to say is… your girl, wants some alone time with you… this is your chance man." Ian put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, hey… if it doesn't work out, tell her I'm available." Dunkin whispered. Lance gave a defensive look. "Just kidding man, dating your roomie would mean coming to your house frequently… and your neighbor scares the living daylight out of me." Lance chuckled at the thought of their neighbor, Barb. An absolute maniac.

"Go get her." Ian said.

"Hey, thanks guys." Lance handing Ian his guitar.

"We were still serious about you carrying that to the van."

* * *

"Hey, you got a table." Lance said as soon as he found Hannah inside.

"Yeah, I had to convince the bus boy that I was expecting company, the dude was ready to sit and eat with me."

"Well… just tell me when he comes by again." Lance said stiffly.

"It's fine." She assured, Lance remained tense for a moment, then settled down and took a seat. "So, I really liked your show."

"Thanks."

"That new song was pretty rad." Hannah handed Lance a menu, and held her hands together. "Did Ian write that one?"

"He did some of it, but I actually wrote a lot of it." The guitarist said proudly.

"Lyrics or instrumentals or both?"

"Like half of the lyrics and the melody." He hoped she would catch the part about the lyrics, considering they were about her.

"Nice. Are you ready to order?"

"Oh, yeah sure."


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey Octus, have you seen Lance?" Ilana asked, walking down the stairs to the living room.

"Lance and Hannah are both at a concert. They left roughly two hours ago." Octus replied in his Newton disguise.

"Oh, okay… I was hoping I could talk with you and him."

"On what concerns?" The robot asked, suddenly becoming more alert.

"Well, it's been months… and we haven't had a single Mutraddi attack." The blonde said, taking a seat at the couch.

"Yes, I've noticed that. This may be a sign of the war turning to our favor…"

"Really?" Ilana asked, almost ecstatically. The robot immediately saw the error in his answer.

"Well, yes… but we should expect anything. It could just be a simple pause in the usual spacing."

"Oh, right…" Ilana stood up. "Well, I don't mean to be too much like Lance… but it's getting pretty boring without forming Titan for so long."

"Yes, I can arrange another practice routine if you wish."

"No, no… we'd need somewhere for Hannah to go during that. I just miss forming our armors… gosh; I hope I don't get too accustomed to this behavior." The princess stood up and headed back upstairs.

* * *

"So, my dad and I lived together in his apartment after my mom died. It was pretty quiet, just me and him… he'd be out most of the day, I'd walk to and from school, come home and make myself dinner, then he'd be back at around eight o' clock." Hannah said, taking a sip of her drink. "He'd bring home a movie or something after his second job and then I'd go to sleep." The girl started to smile slightly. "You know, he'd ask what movie I wanted to watch when he got home… and I'd always say the same one… some stupid kiddie movie, and he'd rent it every time…"

"Your dad sounds like a pretty good guy." Lance admired.

"Yeah, sure was… I'd annoy the crud out of him sometimes…" Hannah laughed to herself; Lance knew she wasn't really talking to him, just talking. He could respect that, he listened anyways. "I would always complain during Christmas time and stuff, because all of my friends got these really great presents… and my dad, working two jobs and being in service, would usually only be able to get me one or two small things. One year, I asked him for a pony… heck, I wasn't serious, but the guy actually got me a really nice rocking horse… I loved that thing."

"What did your dad do for work?"  
"He worked in a car garage and as a security detail for a couple local places."

"My dad was an engineer…" Lance said, part truthfully.

"Nice, what happened to him? Unless you don't wanna talk about it."

Lance sighed. "It was an accident at the plant he worked at, I didn't have anyone else after he died, so I went to a military school for a while until Mr. Lunis found me."

"What was that like? The military school."

"Well… picture you worst day of school ever…"  
"Right…"

"Then add your entire career in P.E. multiplied by fourteen plus the biggest Jerk you've ever met." Lance listed.

"Okay, worst day ever, plus third period times fourteen times fourteen plus Eric." Hannah said with a laugh.

"Yeah, that about does it." Lance said, satisfied.

"Wow, I didn't know you were in all that stuff."

"Yeah, I learned to fight there."

"Oh… I get it now."

"A lot of good things have come to me with George… but I really wish my dad could've just… not gone to work that day… he was too stubborn to do that though." Hannah noticed Lance's hand started clenching into a fist.

"Of course… but, you wouldn't have met Ilana or your band... or…"

"No, no…. I know… it's just hard to think of what it'd be like without any of this."

"Yeah… I mean, not a day goes by that I don't miss my dad… but, I guess in some messed up, bittersweet way… I met some pretty cool roommates. Your totally awesome sister and your genius brother, George… who could not be more caring… and a pretty freaking amazing guy who always seems to be there when I need him." Lance stared into her soft green eyes, his chest pained for how extremely difficult it was for him to not just launch his lips forward onto hers. He knew he should respond, but he found himself speechless. Amazing how a teenage girl could strike more fear into his being than any battlefield.

"You know... we're really not very different." Lance spit out.

"Yes?"

"I understand what you're going through, and I know what you need."

"What's that?" Hannah started taking a hint, and sat forward in her chair.

"You need someone who can reach out to you… someone you reached out for. Someone who understands your pain, someone who's willing to help out."

"In what way?"

"By adding some compassion to your lonely world." Lance leaned forward and met his lips with Hannah's. After what seemed like an eternity, the two pulled away.

"I needed that." She smiled slightly.

"I know, I could have used some help when I was going through the loss."

"Maybe we can help each other? We both understand one another." Hannah offered.

Lance thought a moment, and leaned forward for another kiss. "Well… I guess we're soul mates."


	20. Chapter 20

"Morning." Lance said simply as Hannah's eyes drifted open. He walked into the room and set a tray of hot food on her bedside table as she sat up.

"Good morning." She replied, examining the food. "What's this?" Hannah picked up a dish and sat it on her lap.

"Well, you've been asleep so long I figured you might have starved in the middle of the night." He joked.

"Ha, ha… very funny. Thank you, by the way."

"No problem." Lance made his way out of the room.

"I'll be down in a second." Hannah said after him.

"No, finish your food… it wouldn't be _breakfast in bed._"

The girl laughed and shook her head. "Yes, sir."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Ilana asked Octus quietly in the kitchen.

"Yes, the rift gate has opened moments ago." The robot confirmed as Newton.

"What?" Lance asked.

"The rift gate has just opened." Newton informed.

"Well… I thought they gave up." Lance admitted.

"Apparently not…" Ilana looked at the two. "What should we do about Hannah?"

"I will leave by myself, since this is my usual departure time for my university. I can search around and make sure that this is another attack, or something else eventful." Newton suggested.

"Alright... keep us posted." Lance left for upstairs, followed by Ilana.

"So, how'd it go last night?" She asked.

Lance hesitated a moment. "The show went well."

"That's good to hear." Ilana said as Hannah's door opened. "Good morning."

"Morning." Hannah replied. "Finished my food, sir." She joked, heading downstairs with her empty dishes. Ilana watched closely as Lance watched her walked away.

"So… did you ask her?" She asked.

"Not really…"

"Lance… you love her, just ask her out!" She said playfully.

"Well, I mean… We uh…" Lance stammered through his words, trying to decide if he should tell or not.

"What is it?"

"We… sort of… kissed, last night…" Lance said quietly.

"Oh, Lance! That's great! How was it? What was it like, what was the atmosphere? Was it romantic?" Ilana asked, excited. Lance could feel his shoulders slouching like he was shrinking.

"Um… I don't know…"

"Corporal Smooth Moves… am I going to have to demote you due to lack of smooth moves?" Ilana teased. "I wouldn't want you to have the rank of… what comes before Corporal?"

"Private First Class." Lance answered.

"Well, you wouldn't want to be _Private First Class Smooth Moves_."

Lance chucked. "No, I wouldn't." Just then, his Manus watch started beeping. "It's a message from Octus."

"What'd he say?" Ilana waited patiently as Lance read the small screen of his wrist watch.

"Mutraddi."

* * *

"Hannah, I'm taking Ilana to a doctor's appointment." Lance said.

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah… we're going to get her feet checked out; they smell abnormally… off…" Lance threw in.

"Um… okay?" Hannah's glace naturally shifted from Lance to Ilana's feet, who was standing next to him. "Well, I'll see you later, then."

"Bye.", said both Lance and Ilana.

"Bye guys."

As soon as they were out of the house, Ilana turned to him. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, but that was for earlier... promote me to Lieutenant Smooth Moves and I'll tell Hannah your feet smell fine."

Ilana laughed at Lance's lighter side. "Yeah, sure." She felt happy for him, Hannah was actually lightening him up.


	21. Chapter 21

Titan walked towards the next Mutraddi beast; the creature was about the same size as the robot but had four arms, two legs and was dark grey and course looking. Its light green eyes stared into the souls of the trio, Lance groaned… big scary monsters were getting awfully repetitive, he was much more interested in returning home and relaxing on the couch with Hannah.

"Alright, let's make this quick." Lance thought, which sent the message to both Octus and Ilana through their link.

"We need to draw it away from the city." Ilana noticed the creature was not far from Sherman.

"Agreed." Octus initiated their sword and charged. Titan sprinted at the creature and swung its sword, the Mutraddi simply sidestepped and grabbed the robot's arm, and sending a series of clawed attacks to Titan's chest and side.

"Lance, you're in charge of the fighting, what do we do?" Ilana asked, the green walls of Galalunian characters buzzing from the incoming damage.

"I got it." Lance concentrated, and Titan grabbed two of the creatures hands and threw them both to the side, then grabbed the other two and pulled them down to force the creature to collide with Titan's knee. The Mutraddi fell backwards and stumbled on the ground. "Octus, arm cannon."

"Activating arm cannon." Octus hummed, who loved using his new features. Titan's arm repositioned into a barrel of the cannon, and aimed it at the creature on the ground. A bright beam emerged from the weapon, and caused a blinding flash from the explosion. When the trio regained a view of the surroundings, the creature was gone with only a large blast crater in its place.

"Well, I guess that's that…" Lance mumbled, ready to get home. "Octus, disengage our link."

Just as the robot was about to dematerialize, the sensors shook violently. The Mutraddi creature screamed from behind as it grabbed Titan from under the arms and bit into its neck. "Redirecting all energy to defensive structures." Octus informed.

"Engage Sym-bionic sword." Ilana ordered.

"We can't, all of our power is being focused on keeping the creature's attack from destroying our inner core." The robot responded.

"We need to get it off." Lance commanded, Titan raised its knee and smashed its boot down onto the creature's foot, resulting in a loud shriek of pain. "Octus, get us a weapon."

"Our systems are still transferring the energy; we will be unable to form our weapon systems for the next few minutes."

"The creature's coming back!" Ilana warned, the beast grabbed hold of Titan with all four arms and kicked its feel into the body of Titan repeatedly.

"We're taking heavy damage." alerted Octus.

"Do we have enough energy for an attack?" Lance asked, growing impatient to return on the offensive.

"No." The robot replied quite simply. Alarms sounded throughout the workings of the robot, and the entire body shook as the trio attempted to rid the creature from their robot. "Damage intake exceeding maximum, it is vital we begin an offensive attack."

"Tell me something I don't know!" Lance hissed.

"Hot dogs are actually made out of…"

"Octus!" Both of the Galalunian teens shouted in protest. The creature had gotten Titan on its back and was rapidly pounding into the robot's body with all four of its fists.

"We now have the suitable charge to form…"

"Form Sym-bionic sword!" Lance barked, suddenly, a shiny long sword appeared in Titan's hands. The giant robot swung the blade and chopped off one of the Mutraddi's hands as it came for another blow. In pain, the creature jolted back and screamed at the trio.

"Much better." Ilana purred.

"Let's finish it." Lance said, twitching to finally win the fight. Titan raised its sword with both hands and charged at the creature, swinging downward and slicing through its neck. Within a moment, the beast fell dead. The giant robot stood motionless, staring at the fallen foe, the silence from the sudden end from the battle filled the air. Once again, the birds chirped, and the light breeze blew. The calm atmosphere returned again and the dim sound of the city streets could be heard. Sounds of helicopter wings chopping through the air, filming the newest topic for the nightly news.

Suddenly, the helicopters dimmed and retreated. The birds stopped their singsongs and the ground began to shake again, Titan turned to the source of the commotion, only to see a wave of missiles flying forwards. Quickly raising its arms together to brace for impact, the missiles exploded and sent Titan flying, a huge black smokescreen covered the area.

"Our systems can't take much more of this." Octus warned.

"Octus, form our shield." Lance ordered, alertly scanning the smoke around them for the slightest of movement. Cautiously, Titan moved through the smoke, with both sword and shield in hand. For a terrifying few moments, the attacker did not show himself, but from behind came a robot slightly smaller than Titan came charging forward.

The enemy was a green and black robot similar to Titan, except it had a round head and no face. Instead of arms, it had a sword extending out of one hand and a series of gun barrels for the other. Its shoulders were broad, and it was very well armored, and the robot's movements were almost as fluid as that of the Galalunian.

Titan turned around and swung its sword, the transparent blue blade cutting through the smoke and colliding with the metallic, dark military green sword of the enemy. With both of the robots' swords were clashed together, Titan raised its shield, and the opposing, its arm gun. Letting loose a wave of bullets towards Titan, the trio raised their shield and deflected the majority of the fire, but still failing to deflect a small amount.

The blue blade pushed forward and knocked the green robot's weapon back, Titan jabbed its shield and shoved the enemy backwards. With very natural movements, the giant metal robot caught itself and stood up. On his right arm, the sword receded inside, and a metallic hand emerged. With a free hand, the robot used its other to unleash another wave of fire.

Titan raised its shield and charged towards the offender, when close enough, it knocked the firing arm away with the face of its shield. Titan swung its sword down on the smaller robot, but was caught on the wrist with its free hand. With hold of Titan's sword hand, the green robot raised its other arm and placed the barrel of the weapon under Titan's chin and fired.


	22. Chapter 22

**This chapter was made possible by our sponsor, free, cheap, and slow hotel internet. Where it takes only five minutes to load the front page!**

* * *

Hannah flipped through the channels on the TV in the family room. "Cartoons… repeats. Drama… too dramatic. _America's Has Skills_… I've seen way too many double jointed people…" She mumbled, attempting to find something worth watching.

_Channel Five News, we bring you live coverage of the newest alien attack… Brick Jackson, what's going on down there?"_

_ It's not good, Sal… It appears that Titan has been defeated, or has retreated… we are still awaiting the official call from the experts. I for one, think he is still undefeated. But what we can see, as the smoke here starts to clear is that there is a second robot on the scene and that the alien monster has been defeated. We are still trying to figure out who this new robot is, and where is Titan?_

_I'll tell you who this new hero is! This is General Steel from the US army, and my new robot… the S.W.O.R.D. Super Warrior Of preventing Regional Destruction… pay no attention to the _P_… with new technological advancements, we've created a robot even better and more reliable than Titan himself. And we've even proven that by defeating that no good piece of alien hardware once and for all! That's right folks, Titan is finally gone… and this city is under new protection. The era of the Titan… has ended._

"I feel real safe with that guy protecting Sherman…" Hannah scoffed, turning off the TV. "I wonder when Lance and Ilana get back…"

* * *

Lance felt a driving ache in the back of his mouth, his bones and head hurt. The next thing he realized was that it was cold. Very cold. His eyes slowly drifted open to see a hazy and dark surrounding of trees and bushes. The moon and the stars could be seen from beneath the forest, immediately, Lance stood up and scanned the area for Ilana and any possible threats. "Ilana?" He asked in a hushed voice, searching around the plant life. "Octus?"

Looking through the dark trees and shadows, he saw an eerie grey light. Stretching his arms so he was ready for a fight, he slowly made his way to the light. Suddenly, the light went out, and Lance stood still among the countless trees. In the shadows, Lance heard a few leaves rustle. Just as something jumped out at him, he jolted around and reached for his armor. "Hello, Lance." Octus replied with his usual, dorky monotone voice.

Lance jumped back and stared at the robot for a moment. "Where's Ilana?"

"She is still unconscious; I have brought both of you to safety within the tree line."

"What… happened?" Lance asked as Octus lead him to Ilana.

"Our link was broken and you two were knocked out. General Steel seems to have a new robot."

"Steel…" Lance gritted through his teeth. "That thing… it moved like Titan… how did they?"

"Unknown, when I scanned the new robot, it had an operating system very similar to ours."

"Is it possible that they somehow found out how Titan works? We don't even truly understand it." Lance started to become confused.

"They would have to have a full scan our armor, and even with that, it would take a very advanced understanding on how to replicate it." Octus explained. "We've had radio frequencies map us before, once my the probing creature sent by the Mutraddi, and once my…"

"G3." Lance recollected when they were captured, Solomon tricked them into forming Titan so that they could analyze it. "But how would Steel get a hold of those things?"

"I don't know…" Octus stopped; Ilana was laid down in a small grassy clearing, her cloths were ripped and her hair was ruffled. Lance sat down next to her, he stared at her for a few moments. It was his fault they failed, he should have been better, fought better. If there was one thing he couldn't bare seeing, it was Ilana coming to harm's way. It wasn't just because it was a job, it was his purpose… because the annoying princess he'd argued with in the very woods they were in once again had grown on him.

"Let's just get home." Lance said quietly, he picked Ilana up bride style and started the walk back with Octus. After the first mile or so, he let the robot go ahead. Mainly so he wouldn't see his grin as he stared at the girl's delicate face as the moonlight gently swept over her relaxed, sleeping features. On the walk back, he now understood that he would live and die for her, princess or not.


	23. Chapter 23

Ilana sat on the chair in front of her desk and typed on her computer, updating a diary that she'd been keeping to bring back to Galaluna to tell all of her experiences on Earth.

_Tuesday._

_…Lance's mood seems to be better ever since Hannah started living with us. Lieutenant Smooth Moves kissed her apparently... how do I feel about that? I don't really know. I'm happy for him, I know that… after all he's been through, he deserves to have someone in his life that he can care for and… well, be "lovey dovey" with… I think that's the term._

_I'm with Jason, and he's such a sweet guy… but, I mean… Lance's new side is just so… uhgg… also sweet. He likes Hannah, and Hannah likes Lance… so, why am I not happy with that? I just don't know… Lance is a cool guy, he's nice and compassionate… dedicated and strong. He deserves to be happy, and I'd never want to come in between him and Hannah… but I think I might just be a little bit jealous? _

_Gosh… I wish my father was here, he'd be able to talk some sense into this…_

* * *

_Lance's Log. Date: Whatever._

_Um… so, Ilana made he start this journal a few months ago… something about how this war will be our planet's history, so we should record it. Well, um… I'm probably just going to throw this away… but she won't let play video games until I fill up this page… so… yeah._

_It's been a couple days since the Mutraddi attacked for the first time in quite a while, Steel has a new robot too. The news said it was called the S.W.O.R.D…. at least he's trying, I guess._

_Somehow, that old creep managed to get the best of us and break our link, Ilana, Octus, and I actually ended up in the woods outside of town after Titan disengaged. We had to walk an admittedly long distance, it wouldn't be a problem if I weren't carrying Ilana half of the time… not that she's heavy or anything… I mean, she's not as light as Kimmy. She's not fatter than Kimmy, of course… I mean… Kimmy is ridiculously underweight, so Ilana is way fatter than her. But, not in a bad way… Ilana's like… average… but, she's not average average…. her weight is less than average. Not that she's less than anyone at anything, she's better than any girl around._

_Well, I take that back… Hannah's pretty cool, and I guess they're both around the same weight. Hannah's a little taller than Ilana, so she's slightly heavier… that's not a bad thing, though. I mean, you can't really compare the two… what the heck am I writing…_

_Okay, well… I've been thinking about Hannah lately… we kissed after my show that one time, no big deal. The Mutraddi had to show up right after that, so I don't know if we're still into this, if we're dating? Or was that just a one night thing… I hope it wasn't. That'd be just my luck to go and mess everything up._

_Maybe I'll talk to her, see if she wants to go out or something. Ilana keeps saying I need to show her I still care, or she'll think I've dropped it. She's so funny when she tries to help people… I'll admit, sometimes it's downright painful to watch Ilana make a fool of herself at school or somewhere else… but that's just who she is, I guess._

_I'm going to go see if Hannah wants to go on a walk or something… isn't that what couples do? Walk… boring, but if it works then fine. Ilana's telling me that I need to take her on a date, something about surprises too. Well, I finished writing or whatever… so… yeah, I'm done here._

* * *

**Hannah.**

_Tuesday._

_Lance asked if I wanted to go for a walk today, I mean, we've never done one before, but I thought it'd be good for me. Apparently his idea of a walk was a full out journey to the other side of town._

_We chatted on the way, and it was nice. Okay, you'll never get this… turns out that Lance is a total sweet heart, he hid his acoustic guitar and a picnic basket at some park and played some pretty music. The food wasn't very good, but that really doesn't matter, because he was really thoughtful, and come one… it's the _thought that counts _scenario. Like, who wouldn't love a surprise picnic… just next time, I'd prefer a little less of a walk, but whatever. I mean, that's such a totally rad thing to do._

* * *

**Octus.**

_Hannah and Lance returned home at 4:36PM, Lance holding his guitar and a basket. Both of them headed upstairs to Lance's room, laughter and casual conversation last until 5:54PM when dinner is ready._

_Ilana comes downstairs first, she insists we both eat in the living room tonight, I do not know why. We watch _High School Heights _while Lance and Hannah eat alone in the kitchen. My scanners pick up large amounts of hormones from that room, and their heart rates are exceedingly fast. I begin to understand Ilana's reasoning. I turn off my thermal vision as the two lean in closer together. It is a good thing I am not in there, I do not think the _Animal Friends_ have covered this subject._


	24. Chapter 24

"It's beautiful out here." Hannah softly commented, lying on the wet grass in the back yard, gazing at the stars next to Lance.

"Yeah…"

"It's crazy… you know... how big the universe and stuff is; I mean…there could be entire worlds out there that we can't even imagine…" The girl turned to the boy next to her.

Lance paused for a moment. "Yeah…"

"It makes our little problems seem pretty stupid and pointless…"

The young soldier turned to his side. "I wouldn't say pointless, they're important to you… you're important to me… I mean, your problems… are still problems." He stopped for a second. "If you're thinking that you're not important, you are…"

"Aw… thanks guy." Hannah leaned in and kissed him.

. . .

Eric stared through the bushes from the neighbor's yard, he watched his ex-girlfriend lean in to kiss the fittest and most popular kid in school.

"Hey Eric, you smell something?" His friend whispered.

"What?"

"Cheese… and poop..." He said with a straight face. "Because all I'm hearing is cheesy and crappy lines!" He motioned to Lance's speech and started laughing.

"Nice." Another one of Eric's friends exchanged fist bumps.

"That's my girl… and that piece of garbage with her…" Eric grumbled. "I should just go in there and beat the daylight out of him."

"She won't want you back if you beat him up in front of her… you gotta do it when she's not around, and when he's not there for her afterwards... you will be. Trust me, bro… I'm the love guru." Thomas said confidently.

"Thanks man, you're a genius…" Eric pulled out a few pictures that the photographer that they hired took. He saw several of Hannah and the blonde girl, and Lance and Hannah left the house together frequently in a silver Cadillac. He assumed the car was his. "Lance leaves in the silver car, but Hannah usually tags along… the first time he doesn't, we'll trail him and find out where he's headed to."

"And we teach him a lesson." Rocko, who Lance had beaten before, stroked his Mohawk. "I've been watching these Kung Fu training DVD's, I can teach you guys if you want, and then we can knock the snot out of him."

"Yeah… yeah, that sounds good."

"We can get all our boys, that's like twenty people… and we just… BAM!" Thomas motioned a few punches.

"He caught us off guard at the show, but nobody can take all of us."

"Keep an eye on the house, when he leaves alone… we go."

* * *

"What's up with the muddy boots, come on?"

"Yeah, they were in style maybe… fifty years ago?"

"And what's up with her pants? What the heck is wrong with them."  
"They're not pants; they're nineteen ninety three Military Surplus cargo shorts." A young girl with long black hair and sea green eyes replied softly, avoiding eye contact from the three older girls pestering her.

"Oh, excuse me… well, you're cargo shorts are lame." A redheaded girl in a cheerleader's outfit commented, she picked up an old, camouflaged backpack from the girl's open locker. "Ew… Baby Barf Green?"

"That's my dad's, give it back." The green eyed girl pleaded as the three girls started tossing the bag around.

"Kimmy, what are you doing?" A dirty brown haired boy asked.

"We were just getting to class, Brandon." The redhead girl replied, dropping the bag on the floor.

"Okay, we're gunna miss second period… we're only a few weeks into our freshman year…" Brandon reminded the girl.

"Okay, why don't you go to class, I'll catch up, kay?"

"…Alright." Brandon walked off, on the way out he bumped into a shorter, bright blonde haired boy, who was reading a book in his hands while walking.

"Sorry about that…" The boy looked up.

"Yeah, watch where you're walking next time, Eric." Brandon said, not bothering to turn around. Eric looked up to see a few of the pretty girls standing around the lockers in the hallway. There was one girl in the crowd that caught his eye, she was the quiet girl from history class… Hannah Granger, who was always alone at lunch.

The other girls were going through her backpack and making high pitched remarks whenever something they found funny appeared. It looked like to him that the Hannah girl wasn't having as much fun as the others were. He couldn't stand by and watch them harass the poor girl, more importantly the fact that they were doing it in front of his locker. "Excuse me, girls." He slipped past them and opened up the combo lock, the group fell silent as he hummed a tune while going through his books. As soon as he gathered all the necessary supplies, he shut his locker and scanned the four girls around him.

"Say, Hannah… you're in my history class, right? You're gunna be late if you don't hurry, why don't you come with me?" He directed his eyes away from the girls.

"Oh, yeah… sure." She replied softly, she looked at her bag that the girls were holding captive. "um…"

"Can she please have that, we'll be late for class." Eric asked, the girls exchanged glances and handed him the backpack. Eric nodded and walked off, Hannah followed behind.

"Thanks…"

"No problem."

* * *

"Eric, Lance is leaving… not in his car, but it looks like he's going out for a run…" Thomas called Eric's phone, nodding to several other teens in the a parking lot near the Lunis house, they hopped in their cars and drove off.

* * *

Lance was going on a run, he needed some time to clear his head. It all started when they were eating dinner, Octus and ilana were in the living room, and he was alone with Hannah. She started talking, and he started to realize how pretty she was. She talked about her past, he related… it was so perfect… she was perfect.

They left for the backyard after Ilana volunteered to do dishes, which it was usually Lance's turn. Hannah brought up the kiss, and asked if it meant anything. Lance was stupid and said, _if it means anything to you, I guess. _Then somewhere along the line they ended up kissing again.

Now Hannah was asleep, and he was running through the neighborhood at 2:30 AM. He kept a steady pace until he started to realize he'd passed the same houses several times. Lance groaned and kept running.

* * *

"Hey… there he is…" Rocko pointed out a figure running on the sidewalk outside of the neighborhood.

"Pull up next to him." Eric ordered, the driver took a slow pace next to him. Eric's other cars came in from behind. "Lance Lunis… we need to talk."

"Who are you?"

"My name's Eric, I'm Hannah's boyfriend." He replied, leaning out the window.

"Hannah's ex-boyfriend." Lance corrected, continuing to run. Eric clenched his fist as the car followed him.

"I wanna talk to you, man to man. Why don't you stop?" Eric asked, Lance agreed and stopped running. He walked closer and addressed Eric, who was sitting in the passenger's seat.

"What about?"

"What do you think? I'm not okay with you seeing my girl like you are."

"She broke up with you." Lance started to get annoyed. "Leave her, and me… alone." Eric hit the dashboard of the car as he walked away, opening the door, he chased after Lance.

"Tell her it's over, between you and her."

"…no. Get Lost." Lance turned around to face the blonde boy, Eric's followers started getting out of their cars and backing their friend.

"You son of a…" Eric glared at the raven haired teen. "Boys… show this piece of crap some manners."

Rocko approached Lance. "Don't wanna have to do this… but I kinda do." He swung a fist at Lance's face, he simplely sidestepped and grabbed his arm and pulled him to the ground. Eric's crowd of about twelve angry teenagers watched Rocko hit the hard pavement.

All at once, they charged at the boy. Eric watched with a smirk on his face. The first attacker swung a metal pole, Lance ducked and kicked his shin, punched his gut, and pushed him aside.

Another came and attempted to tackle him, he stepped back and let his hit the concrete. Evading another series of attacks from various attackers of multiple directions, Lance easily defeated the mob.

Eric glared at him, his friends were helping each other up and standing back. Forming his fists, the blonde charged, swinging a punch at Lance's lower jaw. The soldier grabbed Eric's wrist with one hand, and took hold of his shoulder with the other. Using Eric's momentum, he swung him over his back and sent the teen crashing onto the ground.

Lance watched as his opponent slowly got back up, only to throw another punch. Lance blocked it with his forearm and sent a fist of his own into Eric's gut. Taking the open opportunity, he swung a couple more hits so he could refrain his foe from getting back up and being injured further. "Don't try again… we're done here." The dark haired teenager started walking in the opposite direction, Eric watched him walking away.

* * *

"All of the girls at school say I'm weird, and that I should just go and join the army now so that they won't have to see me anymore." Hannah recalled, sitting next to Eric on a park bench somewhere in Sherman, their first date. It'd been a few months since he saved her from the girls in the hallways, and she'd taken him to see a movie as thanks.

"Well, you shouldn't do that… One, you're too pretty to go off to the army. Two, I'd miss you… and three, I'd flunk math without your help." Eric offered.

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Of course. You're beautiful, seriously… you're eyes, your hair, your mouth, your smile, your laugh… not just that, you're a pretty stellar girl… you're sweet and funny, and like… totally great to be around."

"You really think so?" She asked.

"Yeah, I mean… you're like a piece of cheese or something… people say those things because they never really got to know the cheese… I've spent some time with you, and I see you're pretty cool."

"You're a pretty awesome guy yourself." Hannah complemented, gently nudging his shoulder.

"… really? Thanks." Eric smiled. The two stared at each other for a moment, then they started leaning in.

* * *

"I didn't think I'd have to do this… but you took her away from me…" Eric groaned, leaning up on the floor, he pulled out a shiny pistol concealed in his jacket, took aim, and fired at Lance as he walked away.


	25. Chapter 25

_Lance has left the house at 2:32 AM, his armor has been activated… he is now returning up the driveway, I am detecting very large amounts of adrenalin. _

Octus got out of bed and walked downstairs, he opened the front door to see Lance holding his chest, and walking towards him. "What happened?"

"I was attacked." Lance groaned, the robot pulled his arm around his shoulder and helped him walk upstairs. "Hannah's old boyfriend shot me."

"I can start a cell regeneration process, I will go get…"

"No, Ilana can't know about this. No Hannah, too… just keep this between you and me." Lance ordered.

"Understood." Octus laid Lance down in his room on a long wooden desk, his electric spheres came out of the walls. "These electric compounds should disinfect and reseal the wound. Luckily the bullet did not hit any vital organs, and exited upon impact." Octus grabbed one of his floating spheres and placed it on Lance's chest and back. "You will have to stay here overnight."

"That's fine… just wake me up before the girls."

"Why?" A voice asked from the door way. "Lance, Octus… what's going on?" Ilana asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Why do you have a bubble on you?"

"Ilana… I, um… pulled a muscle or something during my training… and um, Octus is helping me with it." Lance answered sheepishly.

"Okay…" Ilana walked closer, her face stiffened as she eyed his chest. Suddenly, her mouth dropped as she stared. "Lance, you're covered in blood!" Lance looked at Octus, and sighed. "What really happened?"

"I… was out for a run, and I ran into some guys… and, I got shot… but I'm fine, Ilana."

"Who did this?" She asked sternly.

"Ilana... I'm fine…"

"Lance, who did this to you?"

Lance hesitated a moment. "It was Hannah's old boyfriend, Eric…" Ilana stared at him, deep in thought.

"Don't tell Hannah, I'll be fine. By the morning, it'll be like nothing even happened."

"Okay, I won't tell her… I'll leave this up to you, but you should let her know."

"Why don't I take you back to your room, Ilana… it is very late." Octus offered.

"Alright." The robot took her out of the room and closed the door behind him. Octus came back in a few moments, he stared at Lance. "Lance, I need discuss your situation."

"Yeah, sure."

"I fear one of your major arteries may have been ruptured during your walk home… that on top of your armor being activated…"

"Will I be alright?"

"Honestly, Lance… I don't know." Lance's heart stopped as the robot broke the news. He thought for a moment.

"Don't tell Ilana, okay… I don't want her to worry about me."

"I won't… but you can't activate your armor, your body won't be able to sustain the stress."

"No Manus… what if we're attacked?"

"We'll be fine, now… just rest." Octus dimmed the lights and went to lay down on his bed.

"Good night, Octus." Lance said quietly.

"Good night, Lance."

* * *

**I like that whole "Goodnight" Friendship memo. Big stuff is coming up, the by far creepiest villain from the show is returning... dun dun dun... anyways, I think you guys will like it. Can you guess which Mutraddi is coming back? Go on, guess... guess...**


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry for not updating sooner, I wrote an alternate chapter to Lance waking up, but I pitched it. This happened instead, tell me what you think will happen next after you finish... As always, thanks for reading.**

* * *

Lance's eyes drifted open, he ran a glance through the room, then checked his watch for the time: _Twelve Thirty PM. _He noticed the afternoon light flooding past the curtains, and immediately got up and out of Octus' bed.

He opened the door to find the robot standing in the doorway, staring at him with his blank expression in the dad disguise. "Good morning, Lance."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Lance demanded. "and where are the girls?"

"Hannah and Ilana have left for the grocery store; they should be gone for several hours. This way, you could rest longer without any suspicions." Octus turned around. "I have prepared breakfast downstairs."

The corporal scratched his head. "Okay… thanks."

The robot paused for a moment. "Oh, and Ilana has borrowed your car."

"What?"

* * *

"One jar of tomato sauce…" Hannah read a crumbled up list as she pushed a shopping cart down an isle of the local grocery store.

"Here it is…" Ilana grabbed a jar from the shelf. "Ooh… so many choices…"

Hannah read some of the labels. "_Extra meaty sauce_… _Saucy sauce… juicy sauce…_"

"I think this is the one we usually get…" Ilana grabbed a glass jar filled with thick red paste.

"Is there a difference?"

Ilana thought for a moment. "Probably not."

* * *

"There… there's that Ilana girl, and the ex…" Thomas pointed out, casually leaning against a shelf of canned soup.

Eric looked at the two girls. "She's living in the same house as that robot freak, Lance Lunis..."

Rocko popped open a bag of chips from the display. "And Hannah doesn't know about that?"

"Probably not… I wouldn't be surprised if she was completely oblivious, despite the fact that she was with me when we saw that Titan thing." Eric scoffed.

"Yeah… Thomas… go find out what they're doing later."

* * *

"So, you like those drama shows?" Hannah asked, reading the back of a microwavable dinner box.

Ilana thought for a second. "Yeah, they're pretty entertaining."

Thomas approached the girls; he straightened his jacket and leaned against one of the freezers. "Afternoon ladies."

Ilana seemed to have some sort of a kneejerk reaction. "Good afternoon."

Thomas unenthusiastically inspected the girls. "I like your shirt, fits you well." He flirted, not bothering to hide his glances.

"Go away." Hannah said pushing the cart and dragging Ilana with her.

"What? Can't a fellow have a friendly talk with some fine chicks like yourselves?" He asked, following them.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Just ignore him…"

"Aw, come on… gimme a chance." Thomas jogged next to Ilana. "Can you believe her? You seem decent enough to let me try to have a civil conversation." He asked. "Ilana, right?"

"Yes." She said, usually people didn't exactly notice her.

"Yeah…we, uh… walked past each other like every day between second and sixth period…" Thomas grinned; he was playing her like putty in his hands.

"Really, you noticed?"

"Yeah, sure… I mean, who wouldn't? You practically saved the school that one time… with those blob things..." Thomas leaned in. "That, was pretty cool."

"Oh, well… thank you…" She rubbed her arm.

Hannah groaned. "Come on, Ilana."

Thomas straightened his jacket. "Nah, now give us a minute."

"No, we really should be leaving." Ilana noticed Hannah's discomfort. "We have lots of errands to run."

"Alright… say, a friend of mine has a show later tonight, want to come?"

Hannah looked at Ilana. "We have plans…"

"Where is this show?" The blonde asked.

"Down at the promenade, _Alien Death Hammer_'s got a gig."

Ilana thought for a moment. "I think I might come…"

"Really? That'd be great, it's at seven… I'll pick you up." Thomas grinned, he turned and walked away.

"That guy's bad news…" Hannah warned.

"I'll be careful…" Ilana watched him leave. "He's just taking me to a show, it's no big deal… besides, everyone deserves a chance to be noticed… who knows, maybe it'll be fun."

"Okay… I trust you know what you're doing." The green eyed girl gave in. "I just hope he's not anything like Eric." She mumbled.

* * *

"Lance, I'm going out!" Ilana called as Thomas pulled up in front of the house.

"Where? I should come." He walked down the stairs, holding his chest where he'd been injured.

Ilana laughed. "You just stay home, you need the rest, I'll be fine." Lance was about to argue further, but she already opened the door and stepped out. "Bye, I'll be back later tonight."

Ilana walked down the driveway, Thomas opened the door to her side of his old convertible. "You look nice." He commented, she was wearing skinny blue jeans with a grey t-shirt and a small black vest.

"Thank you." She observed his worn leather jacket and grey flat hat which he often wore.

"So, let's hope this is a good show…" Thomas started up his car.

* * *

Thomas and Ilana walked into the crowded concert room, lights were flashing and the music was blasting. The crowd pushed and shoved for a better view of the performers, and there were more armature dancers than you could count.

"Hey!" Thomas exchanged several greetings with friends and adapted quickly to the lively atmosphere. Ilana shyly followed her_ friend_, or at least the person she recognized. She'd been to one of these shows with Lance, but Thomas… he seemed like a good guy, but she barely knew him. "Ilana, come dance!" Thomas threw his jacket onto a chair by the entrance and ran off to the center of the mosh pit to listen to the heavy music.

Ilana slowly followed him, taking up as little space as possible to avoid interrupting anyone's dancing. "What's up, Lunis? Come on, they won't bite." Thomas teased, taking her arm and pulling her closer to the stage. He started banging his head back and forth to the music, Ilana stared at him with a half effort smile.

Suddenly, the girl felt a bump from behind and fell forward as the partygoer that hit her stumbled to the floor. Thomas leaned forward, and caught her by her shoulders before she hit the ground. He turned her around and held her by her lower back, face to face.

He laughed, and helped her to stand up straight. "Hey, it's like we're dancing or something."

"Yeah, sorry…" Ilana said sheepishly, watching the boy who crashed into her get back up and run to go dance some more.

"Hey, it's in the trade." Thomas looked closer, staring into her expression. "You're really not having a very good time, are you?"

"No, no… this is fun!" Ilana defended, the boy stared at her for a moment. "Okay, it's a little… fast paced…"

"That's alright… what do you say we get out of here?" Thomas cocked his head towards the door.

"…to where?"

"…there's a park up the street, what do you say? Just relax, slowdown… look at the stars, maybe? Friendly conversation..."

Ilana looked around at the utter chaos evolving around her. "That sounds great."

* * *

"I don't like this… I don't like this…" Lance paced back and forth through the living room; Hannah sat on the couch nearby.

"I've known Thomas for years… and if he offered to take her out, then he's got something up his sleeve." Hannah said, only fueling Lance's uneasiness.

"I could handle her seeing Jason, he's harmless… but… I don't even know this Thomas guy…"

"He's a pretty shady dude… I can't even count the times he's tried to pick up on me when I was seeing Eric…"

Lance stopped his pacing. "…Eric… you're old boyfriend?"

"Yeah… why?"

The boy tensed. "Does…. Does Thomas happen to know Eric?"

Hannah stood up. "Yeah, he's like one of his best friends."

Lance stopped dead. "Stay here." He ran to put on his shoes and grabbed the keys to his car.

"Wait, where are you going?" Hannah followed him.

"Hannah, please… stay here…" Lance ordered.

"Lance, don't… Thomas is a bad guy… but…"

"If he knows Eric, then he's doing something for him." Lance put his hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Eric attacked me the other day… it has to do with you and me… together."

"What? That piece of…"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that, but now he's going to try to use Ilana to finish what he started… he's pulled a gun on me… whatever he's planning, it's not good."

"Then I'm coming with you…"

Lance put his other hand on her. "No… please, stay here, Hannah…" He lowered his head. "Ilana is everything to me… she's my sister… other than her, you're the only thing in this world that has any meaning to me… if anything were to happen to you…"

"I'll be fine… just…." Hannah stopped at Lance's seriousness.

"Eric has tried to kill me before, he failed… he's angry… he's dangerous. He will try to hurt Ilana because it can hurt me. Please… I don't need anyone else getting hurt, especially someone as important as you."

Hannah paused for a moment. "You jerk…" She stepped back. "What am I supposed to do if you get yourself killed? I know I'm a lot to you… but… Lance, you're the last damn person I have left! You're everything to me…" Lance paused. "My dad's dead, my ex-boyfriend's a psychopath… and…"

Lance leaned forward and kissed Hannah on the lips, he whipped a few tears from her eyes and stepped towards the door. "I love you Hannah… and when I get back, we're going to be okay… I'll be alright…"

"…You better be." Hannah sighed. "I'll wait for you."

* * *

"You know, I've been involved with some pretty dirty business in my life…" Thomas walked next to Ilana in the cold night air. "Not a lot of people are comfortable around me… because of what they've heard about me… so, thanks for giving me a chance. I have loyalty to my friends… and I'll be anything for em… legal or not… but, I've been thinking… I can't do this forever. I needed someone like you, miss perfect… maybe you could fix me."

Ilana looked at the boy, they'd been aimlessly walking for about an hour, she'd found out that he admitted to dealing drugs, and stealing some stuff, but he wasn't proud of it. "I think everyone deserves a second chance…"

"Really?" Thomas asked. "Hey, I'm sorry about what Eric did to your brother."

Ilana paused. "You were there, weren't you?"

"I was…" Thomas stopped. "I watched him pull the trigger; I don't remember much after that. If there's anything I can do to help…"

"Lance is recovering… but, you need to get away from those guys…" Ilana said, concerned. "You don't have to do this to yourself, you don't have to be involved in that."

"You know, but people like me don't change… born a crook… stay a crook."

"That's not true… Lance used to be involved in illegal street racing… but now he's an ideal driver!" Ilana explained, proud of her protector.

"Really?" Thomas sat down at a bench. "You think I could get out of it?"

"Sure… based on tonight, you're a pretty decent guy."

"Aw, thanks." The boy chuckled. "My dad… before he kicked me out of the house… said that I should start saving money so my friends could bail me out of prison. I was like… thirteen."

"That's horrible… you've been…"

"On my own… living at other people's houses… abandoned stores… parks… cars… school… wherever."

"I had to leave my dad…" Ilana said. "It wasn't working out at home, so I had to leave for America… just packed my bags and left, dad sent me off."

"Really? I thought Mr. Lunis was your dad?"

"No… he's a foster parent, just like Lance is a foster brother."

"Wow… I guess we're not so different after all…" Thomas turned around for a second to look behind them. "Funny thing… I thought perfect people like you just get pampered all their life, so they turn out that way."

"Not at all…"

The boy faced the girl. "I guess there's hope for me after all…" He leaned forward and kissed her, held the back of her head in his hands. She pulled away and stared at him, shocked he would try that after meeting so briefly. He was a good guy, but she had a boyfriend already.

"Ilana…" A voice asked.

She took a breath. This wasn't going to work. "Thomas…"

"What's going on?" The voice asked again. She turned around to see Jason standing behind the bench. Her eyes widened.

"W-What are you doing here?" She stammered.

"My astronomy club meets here every week, I've told you that…" Jason glared at Thomas. "Now… I've explained, why don't you?"

"Jason… it's…"

"It's not what it looks like… yeah, yeah." Jason was more cross than she'd ever seen.

"Look man…" Thomas stood up and walked to face Jason. "This is a mess up…"

"Yeah, it sure is." Jason crossed his arms. "Why?" He asked Ilana.

Thomas stepped closer to Jason. "This is on me… leave her out of it…"

"You knew she was dating me?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, then it's her fault!" Jason looked at Ilana. "I trusted you! I loved you, and you stabbed me in the back!"

"I said to leave her out of this…" Thomas put his hand on Jason's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" He turned and swung his fist at the taller boy's face, he stumbled back and whipped the blood from his lip.

"I'm not gunna hit you, man… I just want to talk." Thomas said.

"You just want to kiss my girlfriend, that's what you want!" Jason threw another fist at his gut.

Thomas took off his jacket and stared at Ilana. "Don't hurt him, he's not thinking!" She ordered, seeing that Thomas was at least half a foot taller than Jason.

"I'm gunna change." He said softly, Jason threw another punch.

"I'm the bad guy now? You cheat on me, and somehow I turn out to be the bad guy?" He asked, kicking Thomas in the knee and pushing him down.

"Jason, stop!" Ilana cried.

Tears were coming from Jason's eyes. "Why couldn't you just tell me?" He send his shoe into Thomas again, who did nothing to defend himself.

Ilana grabbed hold of Jason, as he pulled his fist back to strike again. Without realizing, his elbow flew back and hit Ilana, she stumbled backwards. Within a second, Thomas was already up and sending a fist into Jason's cheek. With one blow, he was unconscious.

"I'm sorry that happened…" He helped up the crying girl. "Did he hurt you?"

She whipped back to tears. "It wasn't the hit that hurt…" Thomas stared at Jason's motionless body.

"I tried to not fight him, it wouldn't be right if I did... I tried to change…" Thomas handed her his keys. "Why don't you go find where we parked, you can wait inside the car, turn the heater on. I'll take him to the rest of his astronomy group or whatever… they can take care of him. I'll take you home afterwards, and you won't have to see me again."

Before she could argue, Thomas was already walking away with Jason's body over his shoulder. Ilana's heart seemed to be literally breaking in half. How could she have done something so horrible to make someone as sweet as Jason turn into that? She felt horrible, she really had betrayed him.

* * *

Thomas talked on the phone as he walked down to the parking lot where Ilana was waiting. "Eric… I brought Ilana to the party… we ran into her boyfriend at the park, he beat the snot out of me… just like we planned. She won't be talking to him after what he did. I'm driving her home now… she'll definitely want to see me again. I'll invite her to dinner on the drive back, and we can go as scheduled… but, instead of kidnapping her right after the meal like you said… I want to take her home afterwards." Thomas looked at the girl sitting in his car; who listened to him that night, she actually believed he could change. "You can have her in the morning."


End file.
